Kerala: Villagers living under fear after bullets found near homes; suspected misfire from Army firing range

Residents of Vilavoorkal, a village in the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram, are living in fear after bullets were discovered on the premises of several houses, with one roofing sheet even damaged.

It is strongly suspected that the bullets were misfired from the army's shooting range at Mukkunnimala, located around two kilometers away (aerial distance). In addition to the army, various forces, including Kerala Police, conduct firing training at the camp.

In response to strong local protests, Revenue Divisional Officer Jayakumar KP inspected the area and submitted a report to the District Collector, recommending that strict safety measures be enforced at the firing range.

Authorities at the shooting range have suggested that misfiring beyond the allowed height could be the likely cause of the incident.

The bullets recovered from houses are subjected to forensic tests to confirm the source. Prime facie it was suspected to be used in the AK-47 rifles of the state police.

Local panchayat member Vilappil Radhakrishnan told DH that recently three bullets were recovered from the residential area, one of which even damaged the roofing sheet of a house. Afterwards many others claimed that they had also recovered the bullets earlier. 

He approached the Kerala State Human Rights Commission seeking a directive to stay the functioning of the firing training camp until it was ensured that safety norms were being followed.

Many years back one person had died after suffering a firing at the Mukkunnimala shooting range. There were reports that some local people used to trespass into the prohibited region to collect the fired bullets to sell the metal in the scrap market.