The discovery of an old mortar shell outside a DDA park in south Delhi caused quite a stir on Saturday with the police cordoning off Kishangarh area in Vasant Kunj (North) and calling in the National Security Guard (NSG) to defuse the ordnance.
Vintage ordnance
Found with its fuse intact, the mortar shell turned out to be a vintage ordnance. Officials said it will be disarmed as per security protocol.
The object was discovered by local residents, who immediately informed the police. “A PCR call was received around 8.30 a.m. regarding the finding of a mortar shell near Park Machli Wala in Kishangarh of Vasant Kunj (North). The entire area was cordoned off and evacuated as a precautionary measure,” said a senior police officer.
Delicate operation
In a delicate operation, the bomb disposal squad of the NSG used a sophisticated ROV (robot) to carefully pick up the ordinance, referred to as a UXO in technical language, and place it on a Total Containment Vessel.
The ordnance was taken to the NSG’s Manesar facility where it will be disposed off following standard protocols, said an officer.
The officer added that from visual inspection, the UXO appears to be a vintage foreign-made ordnance, and its fuse was intact.
Not the first time
“The necessary legal action is being taken in the matter. More details about the mortar can only be known after a full technical investigation,” the officer said.
This is not the first time that unexploded shells have been found in the Capital.
In a similar incident, three 120 mm shells of World War II vintage were found on April 14 last year at a DRDO facility in Delhi when labourers were engaged in construction work in the compound.
The NSG later defused the shells under “controlled conditions” at its camp in Manesar, not far from Delhi.
