Rocket from launcher detonated on Manampathy lakebed

The police found the rocket during a search on Monday after a similar charge exploded and killed two persons near Gangaiamman temple in Manampathi on Sunday.

The permission to trigger the rocket was granted by the Magistrate of Chengalpattu on Tuesday. The Kancheepuram police and commandos of BDDS carried out the explosion.

After it was found, the explosive was taken to Karapakkam stone quarry and was kept there for three days. On Friday morning, the ammunition was taken to the Manampathi lake. A five foot pit was dug and the explosive was buried with sand sacks around, the police said.

Villagers were not allowed to go near the lake. Around 11.30 am, the rocket was made to explode using a remote controller. Even though it expired a decade ago, the explosion was very powerful, the police said.

The shell was connected to the detonator with wires and the team of police and bomb squad took cover behind a rock 200 meters away from the place of the blast. The detonator was switched on and the bomb went off. The bomb threw the sacks to a height of 20 feet, the police noted.

The villagers witnessed the explosion from 500 metres away.

The police said the blast happened on Sunday when five youngsters tried to smash the expired ammunition/round during a birthday celebration. The explosion killed two of the group, Surya and Dileep.

The police are still not sure how the ammunitions reached the temple premises. They detained a scrap dealer Rafiq who told them that he was running his shop only for four years and one Mohamed Moideen, who was running the shop earlier, passed away.