Nine used rocket launcher shells found in Pathankot

Panic prevailed here late Friday night when nine used rocket launcher shells were found from the bushes near the Pathankot Cantonment railway station. The police called GRP personnel to remove them.

In the beginning, there were rumours that some live bombs had been found. However, SSP Vivek Sheel Soni cleared the rumours by holding an impromptu press conference in which he clarified that “the shells found from near the rail track were used ones.”

The army terms these shells as ‘Training Practice Tracers’, said an official. These shells are usually handed over to the junk dealers and it is they who could have thrown these shells in bushes, the official said.

As per information, it was a late night phone call to the SSP which alerted the cops.

The GRP was immediately informed and efforts were on to call in army experts, but once it became clear that the shells were indeed ‘empties’, the army was asked to wait, said the SSP.

“My personnel and those of the GRP reached the spot in large numbers after we received a call on Friday night about the spotting of shells. As a precautionary measure, we were not in a position to take risk in the light of the infiltrations from across the border. Searches near the bus stand and the railway station were carried out,”said SSP Soni.

On January 2, 2016, four militants had laid siege to the Air Force station. The terrorists were killed after a 24-hour gun battle. On July 27, 2015, 5.2 kg of RDX was found on the railway track near Dinanagar, 20 km from Pathankot.