Title - Army shells found near railway line

NEW DELHI: Boxes of artillery shells found beside a railway line in NarainaVihar, southwest Delhi, caused a stir among locals and police late on Friday evening. An alarm was raised after one of the boxes was found open with a shell missing.Police said some residents of nearby slums found the ammunition around 11pm and informed them. The bomb squad moved in soon after a police team led by additional DCP southwest, Ravi Shankar, cordoned off the area.Different accounts put the number of boxes at three or four. Although sandbags were piled around the boxes as a precaution, bomb experts ruled out a spontaneous explosion without a cannon. Police searched for the missing shell and it was found near a temple on Saturday afternoon. However, its metal casing had been stripped.It is not clear how the boxes were abandoned near the railway line but a case has been registered for endangering other's lives, under Section 436 of IPC.The army was informed but it initially did not have information about the recovered ammunition. By Saturday morning it was revealed that some boxes of shells were found missing during unloading of a goods train by army personnel, a source said.Police are waiting for an official confirmation from the army about the number of missing boxes. One of the boxes reportedly also contained a detachable part of a rocket launcher. While police are continuing their operation in the area, the army has also started an investigation.

A source said local criminals or drug addicts possibly tried to steal the boxes from the train when it halted, but panicked on finding explosives inside. That they took away only shell has strengthened this possibility

Police have not ruled out a conspiracy at this stage and are exploring all angles.