Kolkata, September 8, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
A mortar shell believed to date back to World War-II was recovered after being found partially embedded in the bank of the Damodar River in Sonamukhi area of Bankura district, prompting police to alert the Indian Army.
The shell was spotted by local residents on Monday evening. According to police, the object had not been noticed earlier. News of the discovery quickly drew people to the riverbank, following which locals informed the Sonamukhi police station.
Police personnel secured the area and cordoned off the location as a precaution. Army officials subsequently inspected the shell and the surrounding area on Tuesday morning.
The recovery is not an isolated incident in Bankura, where similar World War-II-era explosive objects have been found in the past in areas along the Dwarkeswar and Damodar rivers.
A few months ago, three mortar shells were recovered from the Dihipara area under Sonamukhi police station. Army personnel subsequently deactivated the shells.
Professor Arunabha Bandyopadhyay, who is in charge of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) at Bankura Christian College, linked the discoveries to the region’s wartime history.
“During World War-II, there was a base of the British and US Air Force in the area adjacent to Pierdoba in Bankura,” he said.
He explained that the base’s strategic location was used to launch attacks against countries in Southeast Asia, including Japan. Some weapons stored there were later buried under soil or sand at different locations, he said, adding that the periodic recovery of mortar shells continues to provide evidence of that history.
Similar wartime remnants have also been recovered elsewhere in West Bengal. In October last year, the Army defused a World War-II-era bomb found in the Bolpur area of Birbhum district.
The bomb had been discovered by fishermen after they noticed an unidentified cylinder-shaped metal object on the bank of the Ajay River in Laudah village under Bolpur police station. The subsequent explosion during its disposal was powerful enough to cause tremors in nearby villages.
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