The Maharaja’s College witnessed tense moments after the Special Branch of the City Police received an alert about a bomb having been planted in the college premises on Wednesday morning.
The call came around 9.30 a.m. and alerted the police about an explosive placed near the Department of Malayalam. The bomb squad was alerted immediately. On searching, two explosives were found wrapped in a paper poster and tucked inside a waterspout.
The packet was taken to the open space at the college ground. On detailed verification, the material was found to be a common fire-cracker covered with glass shreds to make it lethal. Police officials said this could be triggered only by lighting the wick and then throwing, thus making it a potential weapon with an impact range of nearly 20 feet.
The police are planning to conduct a detailed scrutiny of the college premises, as elections for the college union has been scheduled for Friday.
A large number of police personnel were deployed at the college on Tuesday in anticipation of tension between different political groups, accusing each other of planting the explosive.
