Being jostled by the morning’s rush at the Howrah Station, this teenager suddenly noticed a middle-aged woman dump two white plastic bags near the State Bank of India’s ATM here. After the woman had walked away, the boy approached the bags and peered in. One bag contained a hand grenade, the other 16 live cartridges and two bullet-heads.

Leaving the bags there, he ran to the GRP traffic police station close by and informed sub-inspector Khelaram Samanta. Samanta rushed to the spot and recovered the bags before informing GRP Superintendent of Police S Sinha.

Sinha said: “I reached the police station, saw the bags and told the CID about the recovery. As per their suggestion we shifted the bag with the grenade to a yard near the railway godown behind the station. There we placed the grenade in a container filled with sand and covered it with red cloth.”

ADG Railways Dilip Kumar Mitra visited the spot and examined the grenade and bullets.

He said: “The grenade was of a high explosive category. The bullets were also live. We have started an investigation. A general diary entry was made with the GRP, Howrah.”

Around 11.15 am, a well-equipped bomb disposal squad of the CID rushed to the spot and insisted on disposing of the live grenade. But ADG Mitra informed Army headquarters about it.

GRP sources said the district magistrate would give a formal order to the Army to deal with the matter, this evening. After that, the Army bomb disposal squad will be called in. It has been learnt the Army might take the grenade along after examining it.

A senior officer of the Rail Intelligence Branch (RIB), Howrah, said: “A rope was attached to the pin of the grenade. Had the rope been pulled, the grenade would have exploded. At least half the station would have been damaged and many people would have been killed and injured.” He said the Army uses this type of grenade. Police sources said the live cartridges included six SLR bullets, eight Insas rifle bullets and two rifle bullets.

The GRP was, however, not ready to credit the street urchin with the recovery. “SI Samanta recovered the bags. He found them lying near the station. We are considering giving the 59-year-old SI an award,” said Sinha.

Asked if security at the station would be beefed up, he said: “We already have sufficient security arrangements in and around the station, which is why the grenade was recovered before it could explode.”