The Pulwama attack is the outcome of a serious crisis in intelligence gathering. With the simmering resentment in Kashmir, security agencies are finding it hard to obtain.
Sukhjit Kaur of Moga in Punjab is bereaved. But she also feels she is lucky.
Her husband, Havildar Jaimal Singh, was one of 2,547 Central Reserve Police Force personnel who began a fateful journey from Jammu to Srinagar at 3.30pm on February 14. A Jaish-e-Mohammad fidayeen driving a vehicle laden with explosives ensured that their 78-vehicle convoy was brutally halted.
“I am lucky that I received the body of my husband,” said Sukhjit. “His was the only body that was intact, except that he had lost one arm and his face was burnt because of the blast. So many other bodies were unrecognisable. Many families got just mortal remains.”
The explosion, which shook Lethpora village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, left 40 men dead and many injured. Blood and body parts, mixed with dust and rubble and ash, marked the blast site.
Something had gone terribly wrong that afternoon. Sukhjit is looking for answers, and so are India’s security brass. How could a single suicide bomber inflict such horror on a region guarded by more than a lakh troopers from the Army, the CRPF, the Border Security Force and sundry other agencies?
Unlike what was initially believed, the blast was not triggered by the impact from the bomber ramming his vehicle into the fifth bus in the convoy. Bomb-disposal experts who scanned the site said a lot of sophisticated planning had gone into assembling the improvised explosive device (IED) that ripped through the convoy. Preliminary findings of the National Bomb Data Centre, which functions under the elite National Security Guard, have revealed that the IED had a switch that triggered the explosion.
The report, details of which were accessed by THE WEEK, says the explosives weighed between 80kg and 135kg. It was a mix of RDX and ammonium nitrate—a potent combination intended to inflict maximum damage.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 03, 2019 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 03, 2019 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Themes Of Choice
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A golden girl
One of India's most formidable beauties passed away earlier this month. The odd thing is she would absolutely hate this obituary; she hated being written about and avoided publicity for all of her nine decades. Indira Aswani was 93 when she died. But anyone who encountered her, even briefly, was in such awe of her grace and poise, and one could not but remember her forever.
The interest in wine is growing delightfully in India
The renowned British wine writer and television presenter Jancis Robinson, 74, recently came to Delhi and Mumbai to reacquaint herself with India's wine industry. This was the Robinson's fourth visit to India; the last one was seven years ago. On this trip, Robinson and her husband, restaurateur Nicholas Lander, were hosted by the Taj Hotels and Sonal Holland, India's only Master of Wine.
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COVER DRIVE
Usage-driven motor insurance policies offer several benefits
GDP as the only measure of progress is illogical
Dasho Karma Ura, one of the world's leading happiness experts, has guided Bhutan's unique gross national happiness (GNH) project. He uses empirical data to show that money cannot buy happiness in all circumstances, rather it is family and health that have the strongest positive effect on happiness. Excerpts from an interview:
India is not a controlling big brother
Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay considers India a benevolent elder sibling as the \"big brotherly attitude\" is happily missing from bilateral ties. He thinks the relationship shared by the two countries has become a model of friendship not just for the region, but for the entire world. \"India's attitude is definitely not of a big brother who is controlling and does not allow the little brother to blossom and grow,\" says Tobgay in an exclusive interview with THE WEEK.
Comrade with no foes
Lal Salaam, Comrade Yechury-you were quite a guy!
Pinning down saffron
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MAKE IN MANIPUR
Home-made rockets and weapons from across the border are escalating the conflict