From correspondents in West Bengal, India, 08:02 PM IST

An abandoned box with the inscription '10 bombs, 51 mm' on it was found in a train Tuesday creating panic at the Howrah station here. However, officials said it was unlikely the box contained live bombs.

Railway police officials Tuesday evening spotted the green military ammunition box inside a deserted compartment of the Howrah-Bhadrak passenger train. The discovery led to panic spreading through the busy station.

The train had come from the Santragachi car shed of Howrah district and was stranded at Platform No 21. The entire area was immediately evacuated by police and sniffer dogs and the bomb disposal squad was brought in.

'There are no possibilities that the box contains live bombs. The box contains only covers or inners of bombs,' said defence spokesperson R.K. Das.

He told reporters that only 'inexplosive ordnance material' from various factories across the country are supplied via trains. 'Bombs with explosive contents are escorted to army camps via road. This box was to be sent to Balasore (Orissa).'

(Staff Writer, © IANS)