12 Jalpaiguri: The discovery of a mortar shell near the India-Bangladesh border in Cooch Behar's Dinhata sparked concerns on Tuesday.
The shell was unearthed by 70-year-old Hiten Modak while he was ploughing his field in Jhikri village under Sahebganj PS, causing alarm among locals. BSF personnel promptly responded, assuring villagers that no attack had taken place.
Further investigation revealed that the shell was fr-om the Indo-Pak War of 1971, fired by Pakistani forces. The shell failed to detonate and got buried over time.
On Wednesday, a specialist bomb squad from Jalpaiguri's Binnaguri Cantonment defused the shell in an open area near Jhikri.
"We coordinated with local police to alert residents and secured the area where the mortar shell was found," stated a BSF official.
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