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Kolkata, October 23 (IANS) A mystery has come to light with the recovery of a live World War II-era bomb in a village near Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.
Though Army personnel deployed at a nearby base successfully defused the bomb recovered from Laudaha village near Bolpur, home to the prestigious Visva Bharati University founded by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, a mystery has emerged as to how the bomb was brought to the place and remained unclaimed for so long.
Army soldiers detonated the bomb safely on Wednesday. The impact of the explosion was so tremendous that tremors were felt in the surrounding villages also.
It is learned that local fishermen first spotted an unidentified cylinder-like metallic object on the banks of Ajay river in Laudaha village under Bolpur police station about a month ago. However, initially they did not give much importance and eventually the matter was brought to the notice of the police.
The area was cordoned off and police asked locals not to go near the incident site. Later, army officials were informed, who inspected the bomb before deciding to defuse it. The bomb was defused under the supervision of central forces.
It was surprising to see that the bomb was still active 80 years after World War II.
“The bomb was defused yesterday in the presence of Army officials. There was panic in the area after the bomb was found. We had cordoned off the area for the safety of others. The situation has now improved after the bomb was defused,” a senior Birbhum district police officer said on Thursday morning.
It is noteworthy that last year another World War II bomb was recovered in Jhargram district. A cylindrical object was recovered while digging soil in Bhulanpur village of Gopivallabhpur police station area of Jhargram. As soon as the news was received, administrative officials went to the spot. The area was cordoned off. After receiving the news the bomb disposal squad also reached. Later, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on social media that the bomb was successfully defused.
It was revealed that during the Second World War, an airstrip was built in Jhargram for the landing of fighter planes. It is said that to reduce the weight, various fighter planes will drop bombs in that area.
–IANS
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