Dinesh Kamath's news item 'Another unexploded shell found in Navi Mumbai' that was published in Newsband

Another unexploded shell found in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: An unexploded shell, believed to be from World War-II, was found in Arabian Sea off Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) coast during dredging on Thursday. This is the second such find in Navi Mumbai this year.

Navy said private vessel HAM 318 was conducting an operation when the projectile shell got stuck in the drag head of its dredging arm.

The ship informed harbour and JNPT sought assistance from Indian Navy for removal of the shell. A team of explosives experts led by commander Mukul Rathi rushed to the spot. The shell was successfully removed and was sent for further analysis and safe disposal.

The shell was 40 cm long, had a 10-cm diameter and weighed 10 kg, officials said.

On March 11, a similar shell, along with a smaller one, was found dumped in an open ground in Kunde village near Uran. The discovery of the "missile-like" objects had sparked panic among villagers.

Senior Navi Mumbai police officers and those from Karanja Naval Depot rushed to the village and declared that the artillery shells were manufactured in the 1940s.

Nhava-Sheva police later arrested a man for allegedly stealing the shells from the container freight station of the customs department to sell. When he could not find a buyer, he dumped the shells in Kunde village.