A sense of alarm gripped the residents of Khoborgaon, a village under the Islampur sub-division in North Dinajpur, after multiple live bullets were recovered from the Doloncha, a river that skirts the hamlet, since Monday evening.

Sources said some local boys, who went to the river to take a bath in the evening after playing cricket, stumbled upon the cartridges.

Ratan Karmakar, a villager, said: “After the game, they went to bathe in the river. At that time, one of them felt something underfoot. When he picked it up, he realized it was a live bullet. As they searched further, they found more. We are worried about how bullets can come in a river.”

The village, he said, is close to the India-Bangladesh border.

Khagendra Singha, another resident, said that since last evening, they have been searching the river for more cartridges.

“We are very worried and have informed the police. However, before the police could arrive, some people had taken away some of the cartridges,” he said.

Sidham Singha, who stays in Khoborgaon, said yesterday, initially, four rounds of cartridges were found.

“As we searched the river bed, we found three-four more rounds. We took the bullets home yesterday and today, handed those to the police,” said Sidham.

As the news spread, police personnel from Islampur reached the village. They spoke to the villagers and also seized the cartridges.

“So far, we have seized 21 cartridges. Our officers have initiated a probe,” said Joby Thomas, the superintendent of police of the Islampur police district.

According to police sources, the origin of the cartridges remains unknown. “The India-Bangladesh border is only six kilometres away from the village. The investigators are trying to find out whether there are any cross-border links,” said a source.