Ladakh villagers have raised an alarm after dozens of bombs were found scattered on grazing grounds in an area bordering China, prompting the army to mobilise its bomb-disposal teams overnight and destroy them in an hours-long operation.
The army’s Ladakh-based Fire and Fury Corps on Thursday said they acted on social media reports about the presence of unexploded shells (UXOs) near Tsaga village in remote eastern Ladakh on Wednesday night.
A spokesman said its sapper ordnance experts reacted swiftly and neutralised “quantity 65 vintage rusted UXOs”. “Bomb Disposal Teams were mobilised at night from Leh and over next six hours destroyed UXO spread over 1.5 Sq Kms making the area safe for community members,” the army tweeted on Thursday.
In a video posted on social media, a villager is heard saying that “live bombs” were seen scattered at multiple places over a large area. The village falls in the larger Changthang border area, where confrontations between Indian and Chinese armies have been reported earlier. Several Opposition Ladakh councillors led by Saspol councillor Smanla Dorge Nurboo on Wednesday wrote to lieutenant governor A.K. Mathur, seeking action.
“There is a video that has gone viral on social media showing lots of bombs lying scattered in the area. Obviously, it created panic. Then we got reports that it is not a oneoff incident and such bombs have surfaced at multiple places in the past and have caused casualties to livestock,” Nurboo told The Telegraph.
“I do not know whether these bombs are old or new. Such bombs are a threat to lives of both humans and livestock and that is why we raised the issue during a media conference yesterday. The army rushed teams later to defuse the bombs,” he added. Local BJP councillor Ishey Spalzang played down the matter and said they were old bombs dating back to the 1962 India-China war. “It appears these bombs surfaced after the wind blew up the soil. I spoke to the MP (BJP Lok Sabka member J.T. Namgyal) and the district administration. The issue was solved after the army defused the bombs,” he said. Police have urged locals to inform them whenever they find such bombs.
“It is a massive area and scanning such a vast area is not possible,” a police officer said. Tondup Nurboo, the councillor of Phyang, said the area where the bombs were found had been a theatre of the 1962 war. Councilor Skurbuchan Lhudup Dorjey had told the media conference on Wednesday that 20 animals had died earlier in Hunu due to landmine blasts. He urged the army to fence “such dangerous places” for the safety of humans and animals.
