Twelve rocket shells were today found abandoned by the roadside in Bulandshahr district, five days after a similar shell exploded in a steel factory in Ghaziabad killing 10 labourers.

"Twelve rockets were found lying by the roadside on the Khurja-Aligarh road near the Gawana police station," Bulandshahr senior superintendent of police R P Singh said, adding that one of them could be an anti-aircraft munition.

He said a villager had alerted the police about the presence of the shells.

"We are probing the matter elaborately and Army officials in Meerut have also been informed. Only after they come,
will things become clear," he said.

Singh said it was likely that the shells had been unloaded from a truck.

"There was a huge traffic jam on the road last night following an accident. It seems the driver and others in the truck became aware of police presence to clear the jam. Maybe they feared a surprise check and decided to unload the shells and abandon them near the roadside," he said.

Singh said it was too early to draw conclusions about the likely origin and destination of the consignment, but the police
was keeping "all probabilities in mind."

Only last evening the police found two live rockets at the Massoorie Industrial Area near Ghaziabad.

Ghaziabad superintendent of police (city) Umesh Shrivastav said the rockets were similar to those found in the iron scrap at the Bhushan Steel Factory on Thursday last, where 10 persons were killed following an explosion.

District magistrate Santosh Yadav has ordered the search of iron scrap in 16 steel factories in the vicinity to check for
explosives.

The 16 companies import iron scrap from different countries.