Srinagar, January 24
Amid tight security , the Full Dress Rehearsal was held at the Bakshi Stadium here, the venue for the main Republic Day function, and at other district headquarters across the Kashmir valley today, even as a huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including 10 kg of RDX, was seized during search operations by security forces in north Kashmir.

The police and security forces busted a hideout in the Kreeri area of Pattan in Baramulla district and seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition. This was a major breakthrough to thwart the designs of militants to create trouble in the valley ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, a defence spokesman said.

One pika machine gun, mortar bombs, 108 assorted grenades, anti-tank mines, ammunition for both pika and AK-47, explosive sticks, 10-12 kg of explosive powder used for IED, radio set Kenwood with batteries and IED circuits were seized. This was one of the biggest recoveries in recent times, the spokesman added.

The joint operation was conducted by the police and the 27 Rashtriya Rifles at Check-i-Mamoosa in Baramulla district. The other arms and ammunition seized included one UMG, four wireless sets, 26 spare batteries of wireless sets, 28 electric detonator circuits, two anti-tank mines, 13 motor shells, 51 AGL grenades, 57 hand grenades, 42 UBGL grenades, 32 improvised circuits, four charger box, 30 detonators, three AK ammunition boxes containing about 2,100 rounds of AK, six sim cards, two Sintax tanks and 10 kg of RDX.

Meanwhile, the Full Dress Rehearsal was held at Bakshi Stadium here and at other district headquarters across the valley, including Budgam, Ganderbal, Anantnag, Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipore.

Jammu: The security forces averted a major tragedy by recovering a huge quantity of Pakistan-made weapons in Nowshera tehsil in Rajouri district on Sunday morning.

According to reports, the security forces, including the police and jawans of the 13 J&K Li unit of the Army, in a joint search operation busted a hideout of militants in the Bassa forest area of Nowshera and recovered the Pakistan- made weapons from a natural cave.

However, no arrest was made and the search operation was going on. In view of the forthcoming Republic Day, a search operation was launched on Saturday and explosive powder, pistols, AK rifle magazines and grenades were recovered from the forest area of Bassa in Nowshera subdivision.

Mohammad Shariff, an inspector, told this correspondent that “ it seems to be the handiwork of Pakistan because a large number of weapons were made in that country”.

The state is already on a high alert and a number of major infiltration attempts have been reported in the past few days.