Ahmedabad: Police today (Dec 9, 2003) found nearly 90 crude bombs on the outskirts of communally sensitive Viramgam town, about 60 kms from Ahmedabad.

The bombs were lying abandoned along the road leading to nearby Mandal town, a senior police official said.

"Police found these crude bombs, which are more or less like crackers lying along the roadside, about five to six kms from Viramgam," Ahmedabad (rural) district superintendent of police (DSP) Manoj Agrawal said.

This is the second time in less than a month that police has recovered crude bombs from Viramgam area. Earlier, on November 14, 20 crude bombs were found dumped near a school compound in the town.

Police said the bombs were lying scattered in four different places along the roadside and it was the Sarpanch of Dilki village who noticed them and informed the police about it.

Agrawal said police suspect some "miscreants" may have disposed of these crude bombs fearing combing operation being conducted in the town and near-by villages after communal violence had claimed three lives and left nearly 40 injured on November 2.

"Police has undertaken a lot of combing operation in the town after violence. We suspect some miscreants may have disposed them of fearing arrest," the DSP added.

It seems that these bombs were thrown away from a speeding vehicle, looking at how they were scattered along the roadside, he said.

Officials said there was no tension in Viramgam or adjoining areas following the recovery.

The disposing of these bombs could also be the outcome of "active community policing" being undertaken by Ahmedabad (rural) police, in a bid to create communal harmony in the violence-prone town.

PTI