Jamshedpur: A specialised squad of the Army, along with the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) of Jharkhand police, will defuse the two World War II-era US bombs, found on the banks of Subernarekha river in Baharagora, on Wednesday.A 15-member team of experts of the Army, led by Lt Col Dharmendra Singh on Tuesday visited site, around 90 km from here, and examined the bombs. The team conducted aerial mapping of the site with drones and then dug a pit at a distance from the spot for disposing of the heavy bombs before defusing them in a controlled way.A US-made AN-M64 bomb, measuring 700 mm in height and 300 mm in diameter was discovered on the banks of river on the Panipada-Nagudsai stretch under Baharagora police station limits on March 17.
The second bomb was found at a villager’s house in the danger zone during the aerial mapping on Mar 21. Each bomb weighs 226 kg. The bombs were discovered while locals were illegally mining sand from the river.In their assessment, the experts found that each of the bombs could blow up an entire city like Ranchi. “The second bomb is also of the same capacity and resembles the first one,” an Army officer said.Police have cordoned off a 1-km radius from the location of the bomb and prohibited villagers from venturing into the danger zone. “All precautionary measures are in place to ensure smooth defusal of the explosives,” DSP of Ghatsila range, Ajit Kumar Kujur, said.
