Mandya:  A bag found lying in the KSRTC Bus Stand yesterday afternoon sent panic waves among the passengers as they started shouting bomb..bomb.. and ran helter-skelter resulting in tension for some time in the bus stand.

A bag was found lying below a stone bench in the bus stand. It was slightly open with a few red coloured objects peeping out of it. Some of the passengers who spotted it became suspicious that it must be a bomb and ran from the spot shouting.

Meanwhile, the Police was also informed about the bag. Immediately, the West Police Station officers reached the place with the Bomb and Dog Squad.

The Police asked the people who were curiously watching to clear the place. Even the bus parked close to the platform and the stone bench was vacated.

When the Police checked the bag, they found gelatine sticks used in blasting rocks in stone quarries.

The Police recovered the bag and left the place and the passengers and the public heaved a sigh of relief.

The Mandya West Police, who have a registered a case under Explosives Act and are investigating.

Based on the information provided by the public the bag was checked by the bomb and dog squads. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the material found in the bag are gelatine sticks used in stone quarries. Even then it has been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Bengaluru. The investigations are going on as to who were transporting these gelatine sticks, where they were taking it and for what purpose? CCTV camera footage in the bus stand is also being checked.

—G. Radhika, Superintendent of Police, Mandya