The Californium that wasn’t — how ‘radioactive’ substance kept Bihar’s Gopalganj police on edge

It is highly radioactive and prohibitively expensive, with one gram costing Rs 17 crore in the international market.

It started with a tip from a source who claimed that three people travelling on a bike from Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar were smuggling in something “very valuable”.

A team posted near Belthari village under the Kuchaikote police station quickly intercepted the bike ridden by daily wagers Chhotelal Prasad (40) from Tamkuhi Raj in Kushinagar, Chandan Gupta (40) and Chandan Ram (28) from Gopalganj. In Chhotelal’s pant pocket, the team found an iridescent lump weighing 50 grams and wrapped in carbon paper.

Experts examine the metallic lump at the malkhana in Kuchaikote Police Station in Gopalganj, Bihar. (Photo Credit: Govind Kumar/Express)

An accompanying certificate, allegedly bearing the name IIT Madras, claimed the lump was Californium.

The police team immediately contacted the local forensic science team, who told them that the contraband was extremely radioactive and should be handled with care.

Heeding this advice, the police team wore surgical masks and wrapped the metallic lump in a plastic bag. They then carefully placed this in a metal box and removed it to the Kuchaikote police station, where they kept it in a room 50 metres from the station’s operational area and ordered the staff to mask up.

Meanwhile, the three men were detained.

On August 10, a three-member team from the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Mumbai’s Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) visited the police station to check if the object was indeed radioactive. Its initial findings showed there was no radioactivity, although the team has now sent samples to a Forensic Science Laboratory in Mumbai for testing and is awaiting a final report.

On 12 August, Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Swarn Prabhat issued a press release on the DAE’s findings. The statement said: “The DAE has confirmed in its report that there was no presence of radioactivity around the seized substance. Elemental analysis of the object would be also done at (a) chemical laboratory even as DAE’s team has already taken its sample with them.”

Police investigators also found the certificate to be false, sources said.

The findings led the Kuchaikote police station, on edge since the substance was seized, to collectively heave a sigh of relief. The contraband too has been brought to the malkhana (evidence room).

“Although we are still using masks, we are relieved to learn that the seized item is not radioactive. We don’t have to worry too much now,” one Gopalganj policeman said.

A screenshot of the ‘report’ found with the suspects. (Express Photo)

Police are now investigating what the object is. According to sources, the suspects — all three of whom have been arrested and charged under 317 (5) (cheating), 318 (4) (fraudulent removal or concealment of property), 338 (using forged document as genuine) and 336 (3) (forgery) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) — had been hired by a man they identified as Khajanti Kushwaha in Kushinagar to take the object to jewellers in Gopalganj to confirm its “veracity”.

Sources claim that none of the suspects are known to have any criminal antecedents. Further investigations have also allegedly revealed that Kushwaha, who is currently absconding, got the object from an acquaintance in Ahmedabad.

“We have already questioned the three accused, now lodged in jail. There is no suggestion of any of them being smugglers. We are trying to arrest the main accused, Khajanti Kushwaha from Kushinagar,” Gopalganj Superintendent of Police Swarn Prabhat told reporters earlier this week.