By India Today News Desk: A total of 12 people have been detained so far in connection with the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch, which claimed the lives of five Army personnel on Thursday.

According to the details, the 12 people have been detained for routine questioning in the case.

Meanwhile, a team of National Security Guard (NSG) post-blast analysts also reached the blast site on Saturday, to analyse the pattern of the explosion and the explosives used.

CORDON, SEARCH OPERATION ENTERS DAY 2

A cordon-and-search operation backed up by drones and sniffer dogs to trace the terrorists who carried out the attack entered the second day on Saturday.

Top security officials, including Border Security Force (BSF) Director General SL Thaosen and Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh, besides those from the NSG, visited the spot during a security review of the border belt.

A preliminary investigation into the attack revealed that the Army truck was carrying fruits and other items to a forward village for Iftar that was supposed to be hosted by the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles unit on Thursday evening.

“The cordon-and-search operation is going on in large areas of Bhata Dhurian-Tota Gali and neighbouring areas to hunt down the terrorists involved in the attack. Multiple security agencies are engaged in the operation,” a senior officer told PTI.

The entire area has been cordoned off, he added.

Drones and sniffer dogs have also been pressed into service, the officials said.

The troops involved in the operation are exercising utmost caution as the terrorists may have planted improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the densely forested area with deep gorges and caves, they added.

The steel-core bullets used by the terrorists have also been found.

Traffic on the Bhimber Gali-Poonch road was stopped following the terror attack and people have been advised to go to Poonch via Mendhar.

The slain soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.

Sources told PTI the attack is suspected to have been carried out by a group of terrorists who probably used a sticky bomb or a grenade due to which the Army truck caught fire.

The attackers possibly spent more than a year in Rajouri and Poonch and had adequate knowledge of the terrain, they added.