Kolkata, Jan 8 The West Bengal Police have recovered 20,000 detonators and 15,000 gelatin sticks from an abandoned house located in a forest area in the state's Birbhum district on Tuesday.
As it is, recoveries of illegal detonators and gelatin sticks are quite common in Birbhum district because of the innumerable stone quarries in the district where such explosives are used for the purpose of stone blasting.
However, sources in the district police said that this time, the recovery is really large. Doubts have surfaced that these were assembled in the abandoned house for the purpose of any insurgency activity in the state.
On the basis of specific information, the sleuth of the Enforcement Branch along with the police of Birbhum district police reached the abandoned house located in the jungle area of Rampurhat.
The sleuths there noticed a number of boxes, where these detonators and gelatin sticks were covered. None had been arrested in this connection at the time the report was filed.
The police have started a thorough investigation into the matter and the investigating officials doubt that these detonators and gelatin sticks were brought to Birbhum from neighbouring Jharkhand.
This is the second-biggest consignment seized from the district since the last three years.
To recall, huge explosives items including 81,000 detonators, 27 kg of ammonium nitrates and 1,925 kilograms of gelatin sticks were recovered at Muhammadbazar area of Birbhum district on June 30, 2022.
These explosives were seized by the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF) of state police.
The National Investigation Agency took charge of the investigation on September 29 of the same year and filed the chargesheet in the case within 90 days after the beginning of the investigation.
At that point of time, the NIA arrested a number of heavyweight Trinamool Congress leaders and local businessmen from Birbhum district for this connection.
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