Kochi Recalls Old War Tale of 1965 Mystery 'Bomb'

1965. India was at war with Pakistan. It was a pitch-dark, silent night. The streets were empty, and electricity was cut off.

- Krishna P S

Jayachandran, then a lower primary student, remembers sirens blaring. To date, that 'boy', now better known as 'CICC' Jayachandran wonders if a bomb had struck Kochi back then – a popular urban legend in town.

‘Do you remember when Pakistan dropped a bomb into Kochi backwaters?’ Jayachandran, who runs the famous CICC Book Stall, recently posted on Facebook.

“Many people replied. Some say the incident happened, and some say it couldn’t have happened,” he says.

There are no public records of a bomb attack on Kochi in 1965, he admits. “However, I believe that something did happen. It may not have been a bomb, and it may not have been Pakistan that was behind it. But I remember the panic of the day, the loud sirens… the presence of officers across the city,” Jayachandran says.