Amritsar, India - More than 100 handgrenades were recovered from Sikhism's holiest shrine here, causing a brief security scare before police realised the cache was probably hidden by militants supporting an insurgency two decades ago.
The cache of 114 grenades -- packed in two cement bags -- were found by construction workers digging the foundation for a new office block within the Golden Temple complex in the northern Indian city of Amritsar, police said.
"It seems the grenades have been lying for many years," Amritsar superintendent of police R.P.S Brar told AFP on Tuesday.
The area was cordoned off and sniffer dogs brought in to detect any other caches of weapons or explosives, police said.
The grenades possibly date back to a Sikh insurgency that began in 1983 in India's northern Punjab state, where Amritsar is situated.
India's then prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two Sikh security guards in October 1984 to avenge the storming of the Golden Temple to evict Sikhs separatists calling for an independent state.
The homeland movement, which claimed more than 25,000 lives since 1983, waned a decade later.
The Sikh religion began in the 16th century centered around Punjab state when it broke away from Hinduism and Islam, the main religions of India.
There are 25 million Sikhs worldwide, most of whom live in India.
Sikhs represent less that two percent of India's population.