Fourteen bullets, suspected to be foreign-made, were found abandoned along a forest region in Kerala on Saturday. The bullets, which were recovered from the Kulathupuzha area in Kollam district, were seized by the Kerala police after two civilians spotted them.
Kerala Police Chief Loknath Behera said that the matter will be probed by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).
"Preliminary investigation has revealed that the bullets are of foreign make," Director General of Police (DGP) Loknath Behera said in a press release.
Police had earlier said a ballistics team would inspect and determine the make of the bullets and the gun in which they could be used.
Kulathupuzha, a village in the Kollam district, is in the eastern side of the state bordering Tamil Nadu.
According to a Malayala Manorama report, 12 among the 14 bullets have been marked POF (Pakistan Ordnance Factories). POF is a major firearm and military corporation under the Ministry of Defence Production of Pakistan, which is headquartered in Wah Cantt, Punjab province of Pakistan. This, according to the report, has given rise to major concerns among the officials.
As per the report, 12 out of the 14 bullets were found in the bullet pouch while two were found outside the case.
It was around 3 pm on Saturday that the civilians spotted some bullets, which was later found to be 7.62 mm cartridges. Two residents from the region who were walking along the Muppathadi bridge saw that the bullets were covered in a newspaper and kept in a plastic cover.
As per reports, after the two men informed the police about the incident, police personnel were deployed in huge numbers in the region along with a bomb squad and a squad from the Indian Army.
Meanwhile, in another seizure, 60 bullets used in country-made guns were recovered from a man during a routine vehicle check by excise officials at the Kerala-Karnataka border in Kannur district.
Kannur Thillankeri native K Pramod (42), who was carrying the bullets in six packets in his car, did not have the necessary papers and has been arrested by the police.
(With inputs from PTI)