Explosives, detonators seized in Maharashtra

KOLHAPUR - Barely a week after the Pune terror blast, police in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district seized a large quantity of explosives and detonators and arrested three people, an official said.

Following a tip-off, police raided three different locations in and around in the district’s Devale village and recovered 70 kg of ammonium nitrate, 6,525 gelatin sticks, and 10,225 detonators.

Besides these, police also recovered assorted items like wires, trigger mechanisms, all totally valued at nearly Rs.100,000, assistant police inspector B. Chauhan of Karvir police station in the district, around 450 km south of Mumbai and around 175 km from Pune), told IANS Friday evening.

In last week’s Pune terror blast, the key components of the bomb were ammonium nitrate and RDX which was suspected to be triggered off by a remote device.

Three people, all hailing from Rajasthan, have been nabbed for possessing the material which can be used to make and trigger explosives, Chauhan said. They have been identified as Kishen Bhairu Choudhary, 30 of Bhilwara, Mohanlal Kanudas Vaishnav, 32, and Jamnalal Kanudas Vaishnv, 30, both from Chittor.

They have been charged under the Explosive Substances Act, various sections of the Indian Penal Code and other laws.

Their associate - Badrilal Devaji Choudhary of Bhilwara - is absconding and a hunt is on to trace him.

The trio will be brought before the district court Saturday morning, and further investigations have ben launched, the official said.