Ambala, December 13
A bomb mounted on a fighter jet got hooked off during an official drill and went off at the Ambala Air Force Station around 10.30 am here today. The explosion sent a large number of splinters up in the air which fell on the houses in the entire Baldev Nagar area, including the Deputy Commissioner’s residence, about a kilometre from the air base.

While no loss of life or property was reported, the explosion shattered the windowpanes of a large number of houses near the air base. CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda was in the city and was scheduled to fly from the same zone at the time of explosion. This put the district police and the civil administration on high alert with senior officials, including police commissioner, DC and deputy commissioner of police, rushing to the air base to take stock of the situation.

It was learnt that a massive bomb mounted on the fighter jet’s hardpoint (weapon station) came off immediately as the plane took off. The trajectory of the bomb was towards the inhabited areas.