Police in Xuhui District announced yesterday that 100 bullets discovered on Xinle Road on August 30 were souvenirs kept by a retired military official.
A migrant worker named Chen Chuanhai alerted police at noon that day, reporting the discovery of an abandoned sack containing some ammunition.
Police officers from the Xuhui District Criminal Investigation Sub-team and Hunan Police Station soon arrived at the scene to investigate the origin of the bullets, according to authorities.
Chen reportedly collected the suspicious bag together with other waste materials in a residential area on Xinle Road.
"I was so frightened to find the bullets that I threw the bag away," Chen said. "I hesitated for a long time before calling police."
Following a preliminary check, police discovered 100 bullets, 10 bullet cases and a pair of green leg wrappings made of cloth.
"Munition experts said that the bullets produced in 1964 could still be used," said He Guozhou, a spokesman for the Xuhui District Public Security Bureau.
Police began interviewing nearby residents, focusing on retired soldiers and former reservists.
"We found the owner, a 71-year-old man surnamed Hou, about 5pm on September 2," He said.
Hou, a former chief of the People's Liberation Army section in another city, allegedly brought the bullets to Shanghai when he retired many years ago.
"I regarded them as souvenirs of my military life and always kept them in my wooden trunk since then," said the elderly man.
Hou's family, who had no idea about the special collection, sold the old trunk to Chen after cleaning their home on August 30.