New problem in J-K: bombs that escape security net

Eight days after a mine blast on the Jammu-Srinagar highway killed 29 people, one mystery remains.

The BSF men had not set out blindly on the road. Before their journey began on May 23, an Army bomb detection party and a CRPF road opening party (ROP) were supposed to have scanned and cleared the road where plastic explosive had been placed. They were armed with equipment that either detects the explosive or triggers it off safely.

How did the lethal device, triggered by a radio-controlled mechanism, escape both these parties? Is there a new generation of explosive devices on the landscape that eludes traditional detection equipment?

The issue came up at a top-level Home ministry meeting last week.If the militants have a new triggering mechanism, security forces will have to play catch-up.