The Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday arrested an alleged terrorist belonging to the Resistance Resistance, a frontal group of Lashkar-e-Taiba and seized a 5.5-kg-IED from his possession.

Jammu's Senior Superintendent of Police Chandan Kohli identified the arrested accused as Nadeem-ul-Haq, a resident of Zainhal-Banihal in Ramban and said with his arrest, a major tragedy has been averted.

Haq was in contact with his handlers in Pakistan and south Kashmir Shopian, the SSP said.

The SSP said Haq was given the task to trigger the blast by the Resistance Force, a frontal group of Lashkar-e-Taiba, by planting the IED at some crowded place.

Haq was nabbed by a police team during a routine checking by it at Barmini road where he was spotted carrying a yellow bag and heading towards Bathindi, the SSP said.

On seeing the police party, he tried to run away, raising suspicion and was swiftly chased and intercepted, he said.

The search of his bag led to the recovery of the IED and he was arrested and booked under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Explosive Substances Act, Kohli said.

Terming the arrest as a major success , the SSP said the investigation is still at a nascent stage and more arrests are likely as the probe progresses.

He said the success was achieved due to the heightened security and alertness and manual surveillance by police teams through strong checkpoints and intensified foot patrolling at several places for the past several days.