Seized explosives were for Sujalam Sufalam project: cops

Police investigating the seizure of explosives on Monday from Nasirpur village of Panchmahals district have said the two accused...

Police investigating the seizure of explosives on Monday from Nasirpur village of Panchmahals district have said the two accused,who were arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG),were bringing the explosives from Bhilwada for mining work at a construction site under the Sujalam Sufalam project of the state government.

Panchmahals and Dahod police officers said explosives are smuggled into the district on a regular basis for various digging and mining works.

SOG Inspector H M Vala said four to five similar instances have been reported in the region in the last two months. The accused were carrying explosives for work at the Panam river. But when we contacted the contractor,he said the explosives were not needed on Monday. We have caught eight people and most of them are from Rajasthan, said Vala. Meanwhile,Panam Canal authorities expressed ignorance about the incident.

We have no idea what these explosives are. Some construction work is happening but we have a separate contractor for explosives, said Superintending Engineer M N Shah.

In Dahod district,the flow of explosives,legal or illegal,is routine due to increase in various works. We have eight offences registered for carrying gelatine sticks and detonators, said a Local Crime Branch officer from Dahod. On Monday, Amarsinh Gadhvi Ramlal Gujjar,were arrested with 84 detonators and 52 gelatine sticks.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram