Bahanaga: Panic gripped residents of coastal Maharudrapur Adia village under Baripada panchayat in Bahanaga block of Balasore district after a missile-like object fell in front of the house of a villager at about 4:00pm Friday.
The missile-like object, measuring around 3.5 metre long and weighing around 60 kilograms, should have fallen in the sea. Instead, it fell in the village with a deafening sound, leaving men and animals alike in fear. It dropped in front of Akshaya Nanda Das’s house and pierced a four-foot deep hole in the ground.
There is a test-firing house on the coast, few metres away from Maharudrapur Adia village. At the time of the incident, there were some DRDO officials and staff in the house. Hearing the sound, they came rushing to the spot only to face the anger of the villagers.
The villagers later dug out the object and wanted to hand it over to the officials, however, they refused to take it. Instead, they left the place after noting down a number written on it. This led to further resentment among villagers.
“Had the object fallen on the house or in a crowded place, the outcome would have been totally different,” one of the villagers rued.
According to the villagers, ammunitions were being test-fired from DRDO’s Integrated Testing Range at Chandipur in Balasore district Friday. As many as eight ammunitions were test-fired in presence of DRDO officers and staff at the firing range at 3:30 pm and they all fell into the sea. But, the object test-fired at 4:00 pm did not fall in the sea. For some reason, it veered towards the village and fell in front of Akshaya’s house.
When it landed, it produced such a deafening sound that Das’s son, who was then sitting on a cot, went up along with the cot to a height of one or two feet. Das’s father was sitting in front of his house. He too ran into the house. He was so frightened that he could not speak for some time. The cattle in Das’s cowshed were also terrified. It was also noticed that blood was oozing out of some cows’ noses.
The villagers are in a state of panic over the incident, it was learnt.
PNN