Three boxes containing a set each of potent artillery shells apparently belonging to the Indian Army were discovered strewn about near a railway track in southwest Delhi on Friday evening, police said.
Police recovered the said consignment after a passerby alerted the local control room about their presence near the Naraina Vihar railway tracks around 11pm, said Ravi Shankar, additional DCP (southwest).
"Only one of the three wooden boxes, which were later found to contain 138 mm artillery shells, was open." a senior army official said, on condition of anonymity.
According to police, numbers, stamps and other paraphernalia on the boxes led them to believe that these were the property of the Indian Army which was then contacted even as a team of the local Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area.
A team of army officials then reached and took the said boxes in possession. An army spokesperson said they had launched an enquiry into the matter.
"Initial enquiry has revealed that these were meant to be transported to a location which we cannot disclose from the Central Ordnance Depot (COD) located in the Naraina Vihar area. We are trying to get to the bottom of the matter," the Army official said.
Meanwhile, the police, on their part, have registered a criminal case under section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the IPC against unknown persons at the Naraina police station.