A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot after reports that a bombshell was found a few hundred metres away from the official residences of Punjab and Haryana chief ministers here on Monday, police said.
Army's experts and officers of the bomb disposal squad 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.
The bomb was found in a mango garden 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.
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"A live bomb shell has been found here. It has been secured with the help of the police and a bomb disposal squad. An Army team has been called in. The area is being cordoned off. Further investigation is underway," said Sanjeev Kohli, nodal officer, Disaster Management, Chandigarh.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Monday said that the live bomb shell found near the residence of the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was a cause of grave concern.
“If those people have the audacity to place a live bomb near the CM’s residence, they can be up to anything," Warring said, while hoping that the matter will be investigated thoroughly.
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The police questioned several people, including many scrap dealers in nearby areas, for clues on how the bomb could have reached the mango garden where it was found on Monday, sources said.
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.
The local administration later informed the Army.
Sanjeev Kohli, nodal officer, disaster management, Chandigarh, had earlier said, "When we came and checked it we found that it was a live shell. We have secured the area."
"It is a matter of investigation how this shell got here," he added.
"With the help of police and the bomb disposal squad team, the shell has been placed in a drum and covered with sandbags and the Army has been informed," he had said, adding, "Army officials will come and take care of it."
The possibility of a scrap dealer dumping it here cannot be ruled out, he had said.
In the past, there have been cases of scrap dealers collecting used shells from the vicinity of military firing ranges.
Punjab Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) AK Pandey, who reached the spot on Monday, had said that it appeared to be a "misfired shell".
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There are many scrap dealers in the area where the shell was found. It is being investigated if anyone could have discarded it here, he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
