Cops find live artillery shell during probe into sandalwood smuggling

Coimbatore: The city police on Wednesday stumbled upon a live shell of an artillery gun on the compound of a house, where family of a military personnel used to reside, in Ram Nagar. Police searched the house soon after they found the shell, but did not find any other explosive.
The whole episode unfurled when police went to the house of Lijo Sungath, a jeweller on Sarojini Street on Ram Nagar, to investigate an attempt to chop and smuggle a sandalwood tree, which had been inside the compound.
According to an investigation officer, three miscreants entered the compound and chopped the 25-year-old sandalwood tree measuring around 20ft in height around 2.30am on Wednesday. “On hearing the noise, security guard Duraisamy tried to stop the trio, who attacked him. When an injured Duraisamy raised a noise, the miscreants abandoned the chopped tree and fled.”
Police, who visited the spot, found the 25mm shell and called in the bomb detection and disposal squad to secure the explosive.
A senior police officer said the 30-year-old shell was of a kind used by the Indian Army. “We will diffuse it on Thursday,” the officer said.
Though the officials are yet to ascertain the source of the shell, they suspect it could have been brought by the military personnel who lived in the house earlier. “The military personnel, whose rank is not yet clear, had died a few years ago. The family subsequently shifted elsewhere,” a source said.
The city police have contacted the Army to seek more information about the shell as well as the army man.
Police officials have collected CCTV footage from the area. Further inquiries are on.