The Kashmir Valley on Monday saw resumption of inter-district rail services after 11 months of suspension following the pandemic.
An official said two trains started ferrying passengers in the first phase between Banihal in south Kashmir and Baramulla in north Kashmir. The official said the trains started from 11.25 a.m. from Banihal and 9.10 a.m. from Baramulla.
Ahead of the resumption of the services, the railways had carried out a dry run of 137 km on Sunday. The trains will be able to pick passengers from 17 stations now.
Meanwhile, security forces on Monday morning defused a roadside Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the outskirts of Srinagar, close to the main train stopover in the city.
Police officials said a bomb disposal squad was pressed into the service immediately after the IED was spotted by a road opening party on the Pantha-Chowk-Nowgam road in Srinagar.
“It was defused successfully,” the police said.
The traffic was also halted on the stretch. However, the police said, traffic was restored after the explosives were defused. The police suspect the IED may have been planted to target the convoys of the security forces.
The incident comes days after Srinagar witnessed a sudden spurt in militancy related incidents.
