SECURITY CONCERN: CRPF officials examining heavy artillery shells found on the Railway Court complex at Bhoiguda in Secunderabad on Thursday. — Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: Six heavy artillery shells, four grenade shells, 38 live cartridges and two country-made guns were found in a storeroom of the Railway Court in Bhoiguda here on Thursday.

Workers undertaking repairs of a storeroom in the backyard of the court found the dump and alerted the Railway Police who were present on the court premises.

The unearthing of the ammunition used in heavy weapons has raised concerns over the security scenario in the State, as police initially suspected that the heavy artillery shells could also be used in rockets.

The 10-inch long heavy artillery shells were found in a box that could store 18 shells in a perforated container. There were only six shells in the box, leading to suspicion as to where the remaining dozen had gone. The crude grenades were devoid of the charge and the cartridges could be used in DBBL weapons. The shells did not have any factory markings, but only some digits.

Seized property

As the ammunition was found on the court premises, there was a doubt if it was a seized property dumped there and forgotten. The North Zone DCP Shika Goel too shared this view. "The weapons are very old and could have been dumped in the room after depositing them in the court. We are verifying the records," she said. Opinion of ballistic experts was being sought.

Sources said the heavy shells could be of tracer variety used by defence forces. Initially, the tracer shells are fired at the target. The projectile burns on hitting the target and subsequently, the live ammunition is used to blast the target. There is also a possibility of the shells being dummy used for training the troops in loading and unloading heavy weapons, it was said.

The fact that heavy ammunition was found along with tapanchas and crude grenades also indicated that police could have seized them in different incidents and deposited them in the court, sources said.

Gopalpuram Inspector Mohammed Ismail said the shells were manufactured in 1969. A suo motu case was registered under Section 102 (unclaimed property) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

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