Kannur: In a dramatic bust at the otherwise idyllic Koottupuzha Excise Check Post, officials seized 150 rounds of ammunition used in country guns from a passenger bus on the Thalassery-Coorg-Mysuru highway.

Excise officials found the ammunition during routine checking around 3.45 pm on Thursday. The Kannur-registered bus, 'Lakshmi', was en route from Virajpet in Kodagu district to Thalassery with around 70 passengers, many standing in the tightly packed vehicle. When officers swept through, they found a travel bag tucked under a seat. "There were three boxes of ammunition in the bag," said an Excise official at the Koottupuzha check post. But no one claimed ownership.

The Excise officials immediately alerted Iritty Police, who arrived and escorted the bus, including the passengers, to the station, 11km away. After more than two hours of questioning, police detained two Malayali men, believing the rounds belonged to one of them. Neither has confessed. "We are 100 per cent sure the rounds belong to one of them," said a police officer at Iritty.

Cops are on their way back to the check post to retrieve the ammunition after making a mahazar (official seizure record).