“Found Bomb-Like Object Outside House”: Jaisalmer Locals After Pak Strikes

On Friday morning, a mysterious bomb-like device was discovered in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, shortly after the city was engulfed in the sounds of large explosions during a series of missile and drone attacks from Pakistan aimed at military sites in the region. Fear swept through the villagers of Kishan Ghat when they discovered the object near their homes, leading the authorities to intervene.

“We could hear the siren all night. Around 9pm, all we could see were sparks and objects falling from the sky. We heard a loud sound that appeared to have come from outside the house but were too scared to leave. As we came out of our house this morning, we found this bomb-like object,” Chandan, a villager, said.

Chandan’s neighbour, Mukesh, said the villagers immediately alerted the police, who in return informed the army. “The army men arrived 30 minutes later. They cordoned off the area and asked us not to touch it,” Mukesh said.

Women raised concerns over such missile and drone strikes, saying children often tend to get tempted to touch such bomb-like objects out of curiosity.

“Some children were eating dinner and some were playing outside when the strikes took place. They got scared. We had to get them inside the house. Later, they got too curious about the bomb-like object. We had to tell them not to touch it,” one of them said.

As the police cordoned off the area, a bomb disposal squad arrived at the spot around 11am to tackle the object.

“We were informed about a bomb-like object. We are yet to ascertain what it is. We have informed the army and a bomb disposal squad is also on the way,” Kotwali Station House Officer (SHO) Premdan Ratnu said.

Loud explosions shook Jaisalmer, and a blackout was imposed in western Rajasthan districts near Pakistan, engulfing the entire region in darkness during the night between Thursday and Friday, following a second attempt by the neighboring country to hit military sites in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir using drones and missiles. The administrations of the state’s border regions also issued a red alert due to power outages in multiple cities.

India promptly countered Pakistan’s attempts after successfully blocking similar efforts at 15 locations in the northern and western parts of the nation. The military is on heightened alert due to the recent conflicts between the two nations after the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives, along with India’s retaliation strike on terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.