A bomb was detected Wednesday near the Mohammedia Madrasa Centre in Malegaon, prompting authorities to cordon off the area around it and summon a National Security Guard bomb squad.

Anti-Terrorism Squad officials said an explosive device had been found but the nature of the bomb would be known only after the NSG experts dismantled it.

Without giving details about whether the bomb was similar to the ones used in four blasts here on September 8, ATS officials and police from Nashik said only the NSG will be able to ascertain the exact nature of the device.

After an unclaimed red box was found, panic spread across this communally sensitive town where bomb attacks last week killed 31 people and injured nearly 300.

Police immediately cordoned off the area and kept people away, while the media too were asked to stay out. Residents were asked to switch off cellphones to rule out the possibility of remote detonation of any explosive device.

Police recovered a small red box from the centre and kept it on the road after surrounding it with sandbags. After initial checking, it was taken to a nearby school ground.

Police, with the assistance of local religious leaders, made announcements on the public address system, urging people to maintain calm.

The Mohammadia Masjid and madrasa on Kidwai Road is surrounded by shops. One of the shopkeepers was going to the mosque when he saw the red box and informed the police deployed nearby at 11.45 am, a resident, told PTI. There is a Urdu primary school near the mosque where the suspicious box was taken, and all students had gone home before the bomb scare, he said.