A live mortar was defused at a forward village near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Saturday, officials said.

Some labourers found the unexploded mortar shell while digging at Ajote village and informed the police, they said.

A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the village and the explosive device safely defused, they said.

The mortar shell had apparently landed in the village during cross-border shelling by Pakistan some years ago, the officials added.

On September 24, two mortar shells were found in the forward villages along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Samba districts.

Courtesy: The Tribune India : 7th Nov , 2022