Explosives Found in Unattended Bag on Bus at Vijayawada's PNBS

Panic broke out at the Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) in Vijayawada in the early hours of Tuesday after explosives were discovered in an unattended luggage bag on a bus.

A passenger, Asif Ali of Uttar Pradesh, noticed the bag and alerted the police, handing it over to the Krishnalanka police. A search of the bag revealed 46 gelatin sticks and 50 detonators.

Investigators found that the bag had been placed on a bus travelling from Narasaraopet in Palnadu district to Vijayawada. The South Zone police of the NTR Commissionerate have formed special teams to trace its owner, and a sniffer dog and a bomb detection squad were pressed into service.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Krishna Kanth Patil said the case was being probed from all angles and that the owner of the explosive material would be traced soon.

Krishnalanka Circle Inspector J. Murali Krishna said the material was suspected to be meant for quarry operations. Officers are examining whether the person who placed the bag held a licence for quarrying and for procuring explosives, whether the stock came from authorised government agencies, and whether the detonators and gelatin sticks carry markings that could identify their batch.

The Krishnalanka police have registered a case under the Explosives Act and provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Investigators are also scanning CCTV footage from the Narasaraopet, Guntur, Mangalagiri and other bus stations along the route to PNBS.

Passengers expressed shock at the transport of explosives on a passenger bus. "A major tragedy was averted. We were lucky that the gelatine sticks were not connected to the detonators. Officials should take steps against illegal activities in passenger buses and give priority to public safety," said G. Rama Rao, a passenger.

Senior police officers said a Maoist link was unlikely in this case, noting that the banned CPI (Maoist) has an almost negligible presence in the region, though they added that nothing could be ruled out and all angles were being explored. In the past, the outfit has procured gelatine sticks and detonators from private quarry contractors to convert them into IEDs and smuggled them through public transport to the Andhra-Odisha Border region or to neighbouring Chhattisgarh.

This is not the first time such a quantity of explosive material has been found in Andhra Pradesh. In April 2025, near the Martur highway in Bapatla district, police intercepted an illegal consignment of about 7.5 tonnes of gelatin sticks and roughly 2,300 detonators. The stock, held without valid permits and stored in a facility beside the highway, was linked to local granite mining operations.