Sonia at Bhaderwah on Friday. (PTI)

Srinagar, Feb. 22: About 4kg RDX was today found less than a kilometre from where Sonia Gandhi and Shivraj Patil were about to meet avalanche-affected families.

The meeting went ahead despite the haul from a militant hideout in Bhaderwah — chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s hometown — hours before the Congress chief and the home minister arrived this morning.

But the leaders had to drop plans to visit other snow-hit areas because of bad weather.

CRPF personnel found the 4kg of RDX, two grenades, several detonators and ammunition hidden in a ramshackle mud house in Bhaderwah’s Chennot locality last night.

The cache sent the forces, already on toes ahead of the VIP trip, into a tizzy.

“I received inputs from my source about the presence of Lashkar-e-Toiba militants and reached the house, located atop a hill, in 30 minutes. When we challenged them, there was no response. The militants, perhaps two of them, escaped under the cover of darkness,” CRPF commandant B.S. Dara said.

Although the raid was within striking distance of Sonia’s place of visit, Dara said he couldn’t confirm whether the explosives had anything to do with her trip. “We have not arrested anybody.”

Doda police chief Manohar said his force “wasn’t aware” of any explosives found by the CRPF. “We have been camping here for days and didn’t hear about any such incident.”

The programmes of both leaders, in Bhaderwah and nearby Nawapachi, passed off peacefully. Officials said Sonia spoke to dozens of people in Bhaderwah, spent some time with them and promised help in coping with damages caused by snowstorms.