SEBERANG PERAI, Sept 29 — A housewife made a shocking discovery after she dug up an old World War II mortar round in the garden of her house in Permatang Berangan here after a bout of rain.

The woman noticed a foreign object protruding from the ground at about 5pm yesterday after it rained.

She unearthed the object, found that it resembled a bomb and contacted her daughter.

Her daughter immediately lodged a report at the nearest police station.

North Seberang Perai district police chief ACP Noorzainy Mohd Noor said initial investigations found that the housewife and her family have been renting the house and living there for about six years.

"The investigating team found the object buried in front of the house and it was not buried there by anyone,” he said.

He said the object resembled an old mortar round and the bomb disposal unit later confirmed it to be of a type of explosive shell used during World War II.

"The object was safely removed and brought to the Penang police headquarters,” he said.

He said the round will be disposed off today and confirmed that no untoward incidents occurred during its removal.

In an unrelated case, Noorzainy confirmed the arrest of two men and seizure of a homemade air gun and ball bearing bullets on Sunday.

A team of policemen, led by ASP Mohd Yusof Ibrahim, first arrested a 43-year-old man on suspicion of having a homemade air gun in his possession, at a house in Penaga here at about 12.05am on September 27.

Acting on a tip-off, the team ambushed the suspect, which led to the discovery of a homemade air gun, a container with ball bearing bullets and a compressor freezer.

"Initial investigations on the suspect led us to the arrest of another suspect, 40, and the seizure of another homemade air gun and ball bearing bullets at a house in Sungai Petani in Kedah at about 3.20pm,” he said.

Both suspects were found to have previous records of drug-related offences.

"Both suspects have been remanded for further investigations and we are investigating the case under Section 8(a) of the Arms Act 1960,” he said.