Artillery shell found near Bhagwant Mann's house empty, was made in 1963

Chandigarh, January 4

The UT police today claimed the artillery shell found on January 2 in the forest area near Nayagaon on the Punjab-Chandigarh border, 2 km from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s official residence, was empty. The police said the shell belonged to the Indian Ordnance Factories.

The shell, which is no longer in use, was manufactured in 1963. “The shell was having no explosive contents and can only be fired from a gun mounted on an armoured vehicle. Hence, the firing of the shell by someone is ruled out,” said a police official.

The police said it could be training ammunition used by the Army more than five decades ago and must have been disposed of as scrap.

The live artillery shell, which was found in a mango orchard on Monday, was spotted by a tubewell operator who then called the police. The cops had further requested the Army to send their bomb disposal squad to dispose of the shell.

The bomb disposal squad had arrived from the Western Command, Chandimandir, on Tuesday and after examining the scene removed the shell using a robot.