Minor mistakes hand-grenades as balls, brings them home

Patna, Dec 7: There was panic in Bihar's Purnea district on Tuesday after a minor boy found two hand-grenades and brought them home, mistaking them to be balls.

The boy was playing near the Ropauli-Mohanpur state highway when he found the two hand-grenades. He assumed that they were balls and hence took them home.

The boy also pulled the pin of one of the grenades. When smoke appeared from the grenade, he ran away from the house and alerted the neighbours.

Mahadev Kamat, the SHO of Rupauli police station, said: "As soon as we were informed by the villagers, we rushed to the spot with the bomb disposal squad. The bombs were quite old and were disposed of successfully."

SP Amir Javed directed the police to investigate the matter and submit a report at the earliest.

The district police have also visited the spot near the Mateli bridge on Rupauli-Mohanpur highway, where the boy found the grenades.

According to local villagers, there was a gang-war between two dreaded gangsters in the area some 20 years ago. The police are also suspecting that the bombs were hidden there by the members of one of the two gangs.