A group of children narrowly missed being hurt after stumbling upon a couple of country-made bombs while playing on the terrace of a building at Rajaji Nagar (Chenkalchoola) in the city on Sunday.
According to the Cantonment police, the children found the crude explosives around 5 p.m. wrapped in paper and hidden among waste on the terrace of a kindergarten building that was closed for the weekend. The children threw the wrapped bombs to the ground below, which resulted in a loud but low-intensity explosion as one of the bombs went off.
The residents immediately raised an alarm and a police team from the Cantonment police station rushed to the spot and recovered the second bomb. It was taken to the police station, where the bomb squad defused it.
M.S. Santosh, Circle Inspector, Cantonment, said the contents from the bombs would be sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis .
Driver attacked
One person was arrested by the Kallambalam police after he attacked the driver of an ambulance that was rushing with a baby from Varkala to the SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
Police said Saroj Chand, 49, of Vettoor near Varkala, had refused to give way to the 108 ambulance that was speeding with a three-week-old baby to the SAT Hospital. However, the ambulance driver, Harish, managed to overtake Saroj at Kaduvapally near Kallambalam. But Saroj overtook the ambulance again and blocked its way before dragging the driver out and assaulting him.
School bus accident
A school vehicle carrying about 40 students and teachers from Ernakulam hurtled into a ditch on the roadside. It stopped after hitting a tree. There were only minor injuries to the travellers.
According to the police, the group, from a government school in Ernakulam, were on their way back after visiting the Neyyar dam when the driver lost control of the vehicle while giving way to another around 8.30 p.m.
One held
One person has been arrested in connection with the attack on a senior civil police officer (SCPO) attached to the Valiathura police station in September 22. Police said that, Anaz, 27, of Beemapally was part of a gang that attacked SCPO Shivakumar as he was on his way home around 11 p.m. after duty and robbed him of valuables.
Arson attempt
An unidentified person attempted to set fire to the office of the Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha (KPMS) at Maranalloor here on Sunday afternoon. The police said the person belonged to one of the factions of the KPMS.
He used dried coconut palm leaves and kerosene but the fire was put out before it caused any damage, the police said.
