Old bomb shell found in DRDO complex, defused

In a faux pas, NSG Chief R C Tayal on Tuesday claimed his men defused an Improvised Explosive Device recovered from high-security DRDO Bhawan after “no other agency” could handle the situation but it later turned out to be a bomb of World War II vintage.

Speaking to journalists at an event to inaugurate the newly constructed building of the Anti-Hijack unit of the elite National Security Guards in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Tayal 

created a flutter when he said a team of NSG’s bomb disposal squad recently defused the IED found at the sensitive DRDO Bhawan.

However, according to the daily report of the Union Home Ministry, three 120 mm shells of World War II vintage were found on April 14 when labourers were engaged in excavation work in the compound where construction activity was going on.

NSG’s bomb disposal squad later took them to the banks of river Yamuna where the only live shell of the three recovered was defused.

With a touch of bravado, Tayal hailed the NSG bomb disposal squad as the “number one”, saying when “no other” agency could handle the situation, it was his men who defused the IED. NSG later issued a statement claiming that one of the shells was taken to Manesar where it was destroyed under controlled conditions.