AFTE Store - Study on 50-year-old Unearthed Ammunition

Tripura is a princely state, with a long international border, in the northeast region of India. As per history, a war
(Muktijoddha) was fought between Pakistan and East Pakistan (known as Bangladesh since 1971). Being a neighbor to
Bangladesh, many places in Tripura were used for war preparation in support of Bangladesh. After the war, large amounts
of war-related materials were left in Agartala, the capital of Tripura. Recently, during the excavation of some land in
Agartala for a tennis court, laborers detected 718 old cartridges concealed underground. The soiled, oxidized cartridges
were examined in the forensic laboratory. This paper describes the examination of the ammunition to determine the country
of origin, year of manufacture, effectiveness, composition of propellant charge, etc.