Twenty-four spent bombs and some rocket launchers were found beside a road in Jafrabad, Bijnore district, 90km from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, a senior police official said on Wednesday.

Bijnore Senior Superintendent of Police Umanath Singh said the explosives, recovered on Tuesday, 'might have been part of iron scrap dumped by a steel company'.

• An explosive pile of scrap 

He said it looked 'similar' to the material found in Ghaziabad-based Bhushan Steel Company during a search in which over 200 live bombs were recovered. The search followed a blast in the factory on September 30 that killed 10 people.

The army has been informed about the recovery in Jafrabad and it will inspect the explosives.

Bijnore District Magistrate S K Verma has ordered an inspection of all steel companies in the district dealing in scrap.