Police have recovered an abandoned hand grenade from the house of a freedom fighter in Khoksa of Kushtia.
Police recovered the abandoned hand grenade from the house of late freedom fighter Abdur Rahim in Basoa village of Shimulia union of the upazila around 12 noon on Wednesday. According to police and locals, the grenade dates back to the great liberation war of 1971.
Rizia Khatun, the old wife of the freedom fighter, said a few months ago, a tree planted in the backyard was cut down. At the time, workers rescued the hand grenade from under the roots of the tree.
Rizia cleaned it as a memento of her freedom fighter husband left it on the ground in her bedroom. However, later she informed Khoksa police station about it on Wednesday. Upon learning the incident, the police came and recovered the grenade. They surrounded a field next to the local Basoya market with bamboo poles and left the grenade there after marking the field with red flags.
Khoksa Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Syed Ashiqur Rahman said a team of police recovered the hand grenade from the freedom fighter's house around 12 noon on Wednesday. He said the hand grenade was too small and rusted. However, the police are initially considering the grenade as active. The bomb disposal unit of the police in Dhaka has already been informed. The recovered hand grenade has been kept safe by the police and local watchmen. His guess is that the grenade may have been from the liberation war.
Local freedom fighter Habibur Rahman said they had a temporary camp in the area. At that time the freedom fighters used such hand grenades. His idea is that the grenade was during the war of independence.
