Hyderabad: 1,600 gelatin sticks, 1,800 detonators recovered; three arrested

Three persons were arrested on the outskirts of Hyderabad Thursday after they were found illegally transporting a huge cache of explosives, purportedly for blasting rocks at construction sites.

The special operations team (SOT) of Rachakonda police recovered 1,600 gelatin sticks and 1,800 detonators from Putta Raju (47) and Kotagiri Rajeshwar (33), both illegal suppliers of explosives, and one Varikoppula Jagan (40), a compressor blasting contractor, who received the consignment. The police also seized the two cars they used to transport the explosives.

The Bibinagar police registered a case under section 5 of Explosives Substances (Amendment) Act, 2001, and section 9 B (1) of Explosives Act, 1884, and started an investigation.

In a press release, police said Putta Raju is a habitual offender supplying illegal explosive material for illegal blasting operations for the last several years. Across the state, eight similar cases are registered against him so far. Police are on the lookout for the owner of one Sri Laxmi Narasimha Enterprises, a licenced explosives dealer in the Jangaon district, and his site supervisor for supplying the explosives.

According to police, detonators are priced at Rs 1,600 per box of 200 pieces and gelatin sticks are priced at Rs 1,600 per box of 180 pieces. However, Raju and Rajeshwar purchased the same from Sri Laxmi Narasimha Enterprises for Rs 3,000 per box of detonators and Rs 4,500 per box of gelatin sticks. In turn, they sold it to their customers for Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively, police found.

Based on a tip-off, the SOT (Balanagar zone) along with Bibinagar police nabbed the trio when they were transporting the consignment to a site in Adibatla on the outskirts of Hyderabad.