‘US-made’ bomb found during sand mining in East Singhbhum

Jamshedpur: A bomb, likely of US origin, weighing 500 pounds (around 226.7 kg), was found from the banks of the Subarnarekha river in East Singhbhum district on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.The bomb, which appeared like a gas cylinder, was unearthed when locals were excavating sand on the Panipada-Nagudsai stretch under Baharagora police station limits. Police said that "AN-M64 500 lb American-made" was written on the outer surface of the ordnance.Soon after the news about the bomb spread, villagers gathered at the spot to look at it. After getting information, local police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area."We have deployed two police personnel at the spot to prevent people from going close to the object," said Baharagora police station officer-in-charge, Shankar Prasad Kushwaha. He said that senior officers have been briefed about the matter. "The Kalaikunda Air Force Station (in West Bengal) has been approached for cooperation in the investigation. The bomb disposal squad has been also called in for assistance," he said.Locals claimed that the bomb may be linked either with World War II or the 1971 Indo-Pak war. The other theory is that the bomb might be part of the weapons arsenal of the fighter jet which crashed into the Subarnarekha in 2018 after taking off from Kalaikunda, which is around 67 km from the site. Head of the department of history, Kolhan University, Arvind Singh, said that the discovery is a bit of surprise as US never had an artillery or military warehouse in eastern India. "Even during the 1971 war, there's no mention about US bombs being transported over Baharagora," said Singh.He said a forensic investigation will determine the source of the bomb.