Chandigarh, January 2: A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot after a live bomb was found a few hundred metres away from the helipad used by Punjab and Haryana chief ministers here on Monday, police said.

The shell was found in the fields on the Nayagaon-Kansal road, which is about one kilometre away from the helipad and about two kilometres from the official residences of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar, they said. Bomb Found Near Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s House in Chandigarh, Bomb Disposal Squad Arrives (Watch Video).

An official of the disaster management department who reached the spot told reporters that the police control room received a message that a bomb-like object had been seen near the Kansal and Nayagaon T-point.

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"When we checked it and found that it was a live shell," he said, adding the area has been sealed. "It is a matter of investigation how this shell reached the spot," the official said. Punjab: Live Bomb Found Near CM Bhagwant Mann’s House, Bomb Disposal Squad At Spot (See Pics).

With the help of police and the bomb disposal squad, the shell has been placed in a drum and covered with sandbags and the Army has been alerted, he said.

"Army officials will come and take care of it," he added.

Replying to a question, the official said in the past too discarded shells have been found. The possibility of a scrap dealer dumping it here cannot be ruled out, he said.