‘Radioactive’ scare in Dehradun after police receive tip-off, seize ‘black box’ from a flat

“The police force from Rajpur police station immediately reached the spot… The team found five persons in the said house, from whom a device was found on which ‘Radiography Camera Manufactured By Board of Radiation And Isotope Technology, Government Of India, Department Of Atomic Energy BARC/BRIT Vashi Complex Sector 20 Vashi Navi Mumbai’ was written,” the police said in a statement.

They also said they found a black box, and that the suspects said it contained a radioactive powder and that there was “a danger of radiation in opening it”.

The suspects present in the room when the police confiscated the material were identified as Sumit Pathak from Agra, Tabrez Alam from Saharanpur, Sarvar Hussain from New Delhi, Zaid Ali from Bhopal, and Abhishek Jain from Bhopal. All of them have been arrested.

According to the police officers, during interrogation, Tabrez Alam said he bought the device 10-11 months ago from his acquaintance, Rashid alias Sameer, a resident of Saharanpur. Alam said he was in Gurgaon to talk to Sumit Pathak about the purchase and sale of the device. “Names of some other people from Delhi and Faridabad have come to light, and information regarding them is being collected,” police said.

Keeping in mind the possibility of radiation spreading, the police team sealed the room containing the equipment and called a State Disaster Response Force team. On checking the device with the help of specialised equipment, the possibility of the device containing radioactive substance was established, police said.

It was also found that such devices are manufactured at Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) in Mumbai, and that they are used to check leakage in the medical field and in large pipelines.

“Soon, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre was informed about the said device through mail. Tthe Radiation Emergency Response Team from Narora Atomic Power Station, Narora Bulandshahr, reached the spot on Friday and tested the said device. After testing, the team informed that prima facie, there is no radioactive substance in the said device but some other chemicals are present in it, hence the said device should be sent to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for testing, regarding which a detailed report is being obtained from the Radiation Emergency Response Team,” said the Dehradun police.

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