Patna, July 17: Policemen in the state capital are sitting on live bombs literally. The police stations they report to are stacked with country-made bombs recovered during raids on criminal hideouts.

The matter came to light during routine inspections of several police stations conducted by senior officials. It was found that a large number of bombs were stocked in the maal khanas — rooms at police stations where cops store things that are to be produced in courts — of several police stations.

Alarmed over the stock of such a large number of bombs in the maal khanas, the city police have asked the station house officers (SHOs) to prepare a list of the number of bombs in the police stations and submit it before the Patna police headquarters.

The list would be compiled and sent to the bomb squad which would immediately remove and dispose of the bombs. Sources in the police told The Telegraph the men in uniform presume the-se bombs are defused as they are dipped in water buckets )a precautionary measure) soon after their seizure. However, there in confirmation if the bombs are dead and their presence in the station is risky not only for the police but also for the area in which the police station is located.

According to the figures available with the Patna police office, Patrakar Nagar police station has two country-made bombs in their maal khana since last year, Digha police stations have two, while the Gandhi Maidan police station, located in the heart of the city, have as many as 15 bombs in their storeroom. All these bombs were recovered during different raids. Kadamkuan police station has stacked up bombs recovered in at least six different raids. Bombs were seized in a raid in 2004, three in 2007 and two in 2010. The source said even though the exact number of bombs stocked at Kadamkuan police station has not been specified, the number would at least be 20. Pirbhore police station has seven bombs which were recovered in 1999. In addition to these, there are eight more cases between 2003 and 2011, in which bombs were recovered from criminals and stored in the police station.

Patna superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande told The Telegraph the total number of bombs in these police stations would be around 50.