Cooch Behar, April 27 -- Panic spread in the area adjacent to Helpakari intersection in Votbari, Mekhliganj, on Sunday morning after a mortar shell was recovered from a stone pile. Locals spotted the army mortar shell while loading stones onto a truck. As the news spread, a large crowd gathered at the site.
The manager of the stone bed immediately informed the Mekhliganj Police. Officers from Mekhliganj Police Station rushed to the spot and promptly alerted the army authorities.
Similar mortar shells have been recovered from various stone beds in the past. Initial investigations suggest the mortar shell may have been washed down from Sikkim during the devastating floods two years ago, when an army camp was reportedly damaged and several military equipment were swept into the Teesta River.
Ishq Ali, manager of the Helapakari stone bed at Votbari, said: "The stones were brought from Odlabari, but they had not yet been sold. Workers noticed the shell today while loading the stones onto the truck." Local Trinamool Congress leader Laxmi Kant Sarkar said: "The mortar shell may have come with the river stones. I have alerted the locals not to go near it. The police have informed the army, and they will handle its removal."
Cooch Behar District Superintendent of Police Dyutiman Bhattacharya said: "A rusty object has been found. The army has been informed and will carry out its recovery. The situation will be clarified after their investigation."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.