THE BIHAR Police Friday arrested three persons from Gopalganj district with 50 gm of suspected “radioactive substance, Californium”, worth crores of rupees. The police have sent the sample for forensic investigation, and the Department of Atomic Energy has been informed. According to a statement from the office of Gopalganj SP, a joint team of Kuchaikot police station, divisional intelligence unit and special task force arrested three smugglers — Chhotelal Prasad, a resident of Kushinagar (UP), Chandan Gupta and Chandan Ram, both from Gopalganj — with the suspected substance near Balthari checkpost. The police said the trio had been smuggling the product from Gujarat. The police are, however, not sure if the three accused could afford to deal in Californium, a gram of which costs around Rs 17 crore.
