Jakarta: Indonesian police said they had recovered a 200-kilogram live rocket, apparently a World War II-era relic, from a river today after curious locals reported the finding.

"From the looks of it, the rocket has been buried in the stream for a long time, but it is still live and quite dangerous," mobile brigade (Brimob) policeman Asep Hendar, from Surakarta district in Central Java, told AFP.

A Brimob bomb squad retrieved the rocket, but rust obscured any inscription on the 1.5-metre long missile, which appeared to be a World War II remnant, he said.

Both Japanese and Allied forces fought in locations across Java during the era.

Hendar said the rocket was to be transferred to Brimob's provincial headquarters in Semarang -- about 80 kilometres away -- where it would be defused.

Two villagers spotted the rocket yesterday nestled in bushes growing in a stream while fishing, the state-run Antara news agency said.

"We tried to lift it first, but it was too heavy. So we reported it to the police," one of the villagers reportedly said.

Source : PTI