Jaisalmer: A bomb fired during a military exercise at Pokhran Field Firing Range allegedly missed its target Thursday and exploded in an agricultural field in the canal-irrigated belt under Mohangarh police station area of Jaisalmer district.No one was injured, but the blast triggered panic in the area. The explosion left a crater about two feet deep and sent shrapnel flying onto a tractor parked nearby. Its sound was heard up to two to three kilometres away, residents said.Mohangarh SHO Guman Singh Bhati reached the spot with a police team after receiving information and began an investigation. Army personnel and officers also visited the site, collected bomb fragments and started an inquiry.According to SHO Bhati, the explosion took place during the day in the 3 KNM (Kanod Minor) area, around four kilometres southeast of Mohangarh town, in an agricultural field near Tulsaram’s dhani.Pokhran Field Firing Range is about seven kilometres from the site. Police suspect the bomb may have strayed from its intended target during artillery firing at the range as part of a military exercise. The exact circumstances, however, have not been officially confirmed.Farmer Dwarka Ram said he was working in the field with his tractor when he realised his mobile phone was missing. He had just moved away from the tractor to look for it when the bomb struck the field and exploded. “Suddenly, there was a loud explosion, and smoke spread everywhere,” he said.Army has initiated an investigation to establish the origin of the bomb and determine how it landed outside the firing range. It has not yet issued an official statement explaining the cause of Thursday’s incident.
