Panic gripped Jabalpur on Wednesday when news of a bomb lying in a drain at Anandpur spread, a senior police official said.
However, the bomb disposal squad found it to be the outer covering of a missile, additional superintendent of police Manish Kapooria told media-persons.
The police suspect that the missile cover might be stolen from a waste material dealer and thrown in the drain. Jabalpur has a large army base, including a vehicle factory.
Kapooria said the missile cover contained no explosives.