Explosion at ex-MLA's house in J&K's Poonch

POONCH:  An explosion was reported at the house of a former legislator in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, officials said on Saturday.

Former Surankote MLA and prominent Gujjar leader Choudhary Mohammad Akram said the incident occurred around 7.30 pm on Friday and his family had a narrow escape as splinters pierced the ceiling of several rooms of his house in Lassana village.

"I was not home at the time of the incident. Later, I came to know that there was a powerful explosion, followed by some shots that were fired. Police and Army officials visited my house immediately after the incident and they are ascertaining the details," Akram told PTI in Jammu.

Akram, who resigned from the Congress in solidarity with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad last year but later distanced himself from Azad's Democratic Azad Party, demanded a thorough probe into the incident.

A police official said empty cartridges of a 12-bore gun were found from the scene of the incident.

"We came to know about a blast near the house of the former MLA and immediately rushed to the scene. A halogen light was found damaged and empty cartridges of a 12-bore gun were found on the spot," he said, adding that further investigation is on.