Jammu, Nov. 4: Jammu and Kashmir police today recovered over 250 kg of RDX from a village near the Srinagar-Jammu highway, the second-largest haul in the Valley’s 17 militancy-ridden years.

In November 2004, more than 400 kg of RDX had been seized from a militant hideout in Anantnag in south Kashmir.

Today’s haul came on a tip-off. “The police received information that the Hizb-ul Mujahideen had dangerous plans and it was collecting explosives at its hideout in Sumbar,” said senior superintendent of police Basant Kumar.

Sumbar is a village high up in the hills next to the highway. The police also found 62 detonators with the RDX. But the rebels had escaped before the cops reached the hideout.

The explosives were apparently meant to target army convoys on the highway, which is the only land route connecting the Valley to the rest of the country.

“Such a huge quantity can cause devastation of catastrophic proportions,” Kumar said. A mere 250 grams of RDX is enough to blow up a four-storey concrete building.

The police are looking for the militants, one of whom is believed to be an expert in manufacturing improvised explosive devices.