This Article is From Oct 19, 2010

Tipu's 'missile' is just a casing, say experts

Bangalore: The curiosity surrounding the "missile" found buried in Bamboo Bazaar near Kalasipalya fizzled out after experts clarified that it was just a casing with no explosives inside it.

However, experts were suspecting that it might be 300 years old, and had come from Tipu Sultan's armoury, located a few hundred yards away from where it was unearthed.

The armoury was earlier housed in the present Victoria Hospital, which had been a fort before the British took over.

The object, nine-inch long and three inches in diameter, was found when the men of a BBMP contractor were digging a pit on October 11. It was then also suspected that it was a relic from the World War-II era.

The casing had been kept in the Kalasipalya police station, before it was handed over to bomb experts. The "missile" was kept in a bomb basket, to prevent damages in case it exploded.

"Ballistic experts opined that it belonged to the Tipu Sultan era and there were no explosives in it. They said it might have been used for demolishing walls or doors, and was abandoned by a waste material dealer," inspector Bhaskar Vokkaliga of Kalasipalya said.

The police had obtained the necessary permission from the VIII additional chief metropolitan magistrate to dispose it off according to the instructions of the bomb squad. The inspector general of police (intelligence) was also informed about the discovery.

The police are now waiting for the opinion of the Archeological Survey of India, who might prefer to study the bullet-shaped object.

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