A day after a bomb shell was found in Chandigarh’s high-security zone housing the residences of Punjab and Haryana Chief Ministers, Secretariat, Assembly, and also Punjab Armed Police’s 82 battalion, a team of Indian Army’s bomb disposal experts on Tuesday removed the “live” explosive.
Earlier in the day, the experts of the Army reached the spot where the live explosive was found. After its thorough examination, the experts decided to take the shell with them, Sanjeev Kohli, nodal officer, disaster management, Chandigarh, told reporters in Chandigarh. “The Army's expert team took the decision. They are taking it to the (Army’s Western) Command (near here),” he said.
When asked if the bomb would not be defused here, Kohli said: “They will take it to the command. They have to analyse it – it is a technical part of their process after which they will (defuse it).”
The shell was seen being carried in an Army vehicle with police escort vehicles accompanying it. Another official, present at the site, said: “In view of public safety, it (the bomb) will be handled at some isolated place.”
The experts used a robotic device to remove the explosive from the spot where it had been secured in a ‘bomb basket’ (drum). They examined the live shell in protective gear inside a police cordon. A fire tender and an ambulance were stationed at the spot in the morning. They were also seen engaging in discussions with the police and administration officials before the bomb was removed. The area where the bomb was discovered lies in Chandigarh, close to the Chandigarh-Punjab border.
The bomb was found in a mango orchard on the Nayagaon-Kansal T-point, which is about a kilometre away from the helipad and about two kilometres from the official residences of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar.
The police questioned several people, including many scrap dealers in nearby areas, for clues on how the bomb could have reached the mango orchard where it was found on Monday, sources said.
In a statement, Chandigarh police stated that an abandoned artillery shell, generally used by the armed forces, was found in the middle of a mango orchard near Naya Gaon, Punjab-Chandigarh border. On prima facie examination by the BDS of Chandigarh Police and discussion with Army officials, it appears to be a misfired shell but all precautions are being taken to cordon off the spot.
As soon as the police received information that a bomb-like object had been found in the high-security area, they reached the spot and cordoned off the area. Bomb Disposal Squad from Chandimandir has been requested to visit the spot at the earliest and for further necessary action. The local administration later informed the Army.