Novi Sad: Hand Grenade in Trash Bag Shuts Down Street
An explosive device was found last night in a dumpster on Jug Bogdanova Street in Novi Sad's Podbara district. Police closed the block from Tekelijina to Temerinska until the bomb squad arrived.
A hand grenade was found last night in a dumpster on Jug Bogdanova Street, in the Podbara district of Novi Sad. The device was sitting in a plastic bag among the trash. Residents who came across it called the police, who arrived on the scene and closed off that part of the city.
Officers cordoned off the stretch between Tekelijina and Temerinska streets. A police vehicle was positioned in front of the Univereksport store on the corner, and passage through the area was restricted until the site was secured.
Who Found the Device?
Unofficial accounts differ on this point. According to one version, the bag was spotted by scrap collectors going through the dumpster. According to another, it was noticed by a man doing landscaping work on the street.
Both versions agree on one thing: whoever opened the bag did not move it, and instead called the police right away, which is the only correct response in a situation like this.
No official statement has been issued about the discovery. Everything known so far comes from unofficial sources and from the scene itself, where police could be seen securing the street.
Why the Blockade Continued After the Find
Police patrols do not remove devices like this themselves. According to unofficial information, the site was guarded until a specialized team arrived to handle the explosive in line with standard procedure. Until then, a perimeter is held around the dumpster, and both traffic and pedestrians are kept away from the immediate area.
The device itself is not touched in the meantime, which is why closing off a single corner takes longer than it might seem necessary to an outside observer.
What Investigators Are Still Determining
Authorities are working to establish how the explosive device ended up in the dumpster and who left it there. The answers to those two questions will shape how the case proceeds.
Illegal possession of explosive materials is a criminal offense in Serbia, not a misdemeanor. If the person who placed the grenade in the dumpster is identified, the case will be handled by the prosecutor’s office. It has not been disclosed whether anyone has been detained.
A dumpster on a busy corner is about the worst possible place to leave a device like this. It is open, accessible to anyone, and its contents are sifted through by multiple people every day. That is precisely why the grenade was found at all, and purely by chance.
What Remains Unknown
Only the basic facts are known so far. In the absence of an official statement, several questions remain open:
- what kind of device it was exactly and what condition it was in
- who left it in the dumpster, and when
- whether the find is connected to any earlier case
- whether anyone has been detained or questioned
Answers to these questions typically come only after forensic examination, and only once the prosecutor’s office decides what can be disclosed.
Weapons Finds in Residential Areas
Cases like this are not isolated incidents. We previously reported on the arrest of a man in Cukarica, from whom 167 rounds of ammunition were seized. The difference is that in that case police already knew who had the ammunition, while here investigators are still working to determine who left the device behind.
For Podbara residents, the practical consequence was straightforward. A corner in the center of the city was shut down, and a dumpster they use every day briefly became a crime scene.
Anyone who comes across a suspicious object of this kind should not move it, open it, or carry it away, but should step back and call the police at 192. That is exactly what happened on Jug Bogdanova Street, and as a result, the only consequence of the find was a closed-off street.
