Grenade finds its way into secure police HQ
DEVICE CARRIED IN BAG OF SEIZED ITEMS BY OFFICER TRIGGERED MASS EVACUATION
A POLICE officer unwittingly took a grenade into one of GMP’s most secure buildings, triggering a mass evacuation and the mobilising of an Army bomb disposal unit.
The device was inside a bag of items seized during an investigation into organised crime gangs after a suspect was arrested, the M.E.N has learned.
It was only discovered after it had been taken inside Nexus House, the force’s serious and organised crime HQ in Ashton-under-Lyne.
The grenade was found to be viable and as precaution staff were evacuated. It had been seized on Wednesday night, taken into the building, and then found to be in the bag yesterday morning. The alarm was raised at about 9am. A bomb disposal unit was sent to the scene and with a police escort they removed the device and took it to waste land at Ashton Moss.
A controlled explosion then took place after ammunition technicians dug a hole to place the grenade in. A 200m cordon was set up around the site.
After a small explosion, officers in white protective suits examined the remains of the grenade.
The HQ on Alexandria Drive is where GMP’s Serious Crime Division, Economic Crime Unit, and Cold Case Unit are based.
It is home to Operation Challenger, which works to dismantle organised crime gangs.
In a statement GMP said yesterday: “On the evening of Wednesday, November 21, 2018, police seized a suspicious device.
“Following an assessment by bomb disposal in the early hours of this morning, the device was confirmed to be possibly viable and a controlled explosion will take place nearby.
“The building has now returned to normality.”