JOIN USThe Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Assam Police stumbled upon an explosive, suspected to be used in World War II, during a search operation to nab ultras hiding in Naharguri area of Sonitpur on Friday.
“The device is very old. It suspected to be used in the Second World War,” a senior CRPF official told Deccan Herald.
The 80-kg explosive device was buried deep but heavy rains have removed the top layer of soil covering it, the official said.
However, the exact nature of the device is yet to be ascertained. “We are not sure whether it is still live or not. We do not know what kind of explosive it is. Only experts could tell us,” he said. The device looks like a gas cylinder, the official added.
It is not clear whether the bomb was dropped or how it landed in the forests of Assam. Officials said they feel that the combing operations would result in more such recoveries.
The 3,026-km long Stillwell Road, built by the Allied Forces during World War II to give supplies to China in its war with Japan, starts from the town of Ledo in Assam and enters Myanmar through the Pangsau Pass.
In a Manipur village two years ago, the wreckage of a World War II aircraft along with 14 pistols were recovered.
In 2012, the Assam Rifles had recovered fragments of a US military aircraft used during the same period in northern Tripura. It was later ascertained to be a C-47B, which had crashed during the war.