Cache of explosives recovered; no terror angle
NAVI MUMBAI: The Raigad police seized five kilograms of explosives, 965 detonators and an electric dynamo generator from a house at Mangaon along the Mumbai-goa highway in the early hours of Monday.
Two people, who allegedly stored the explosives in the house, have been arrested. However, the main accused is still at large.
Police said on Friday, two fishermen had suffered severe injuries after there was an explosion near a creek at Mangaon. They were rushed to a nearby hospital, where one of them died on Tuesday. During investigations, police realised that the fishermen themselves had carried the explosives.
“Prima facie it appears that the fishermen planned to make an explosion in the creek so that they could collect the fish, dead due to its impact. We have not been able to take the statement of the fisherman who is alive,” said Vikram Jagtap, senior inspector of Mangaon police station.
“During investigations, we realised that the explosives and detonators were being sold to the fishermen by some people, following which we began to search for the source. We then received a tip-off that a huge amount of explosives and detonators were stored in a house at Talghar village,” he said.
The explosives were kept hidden in the kitchen.
Jagtap said, “A man named JK Pathan had rented the house. Pathan supplies explosives to quarry owners without any license. One of his managers, Johar Kazi, 45, was in the house we raided. He is under arrest.”
During interrogation Kazi said that Shantilal Gadri, 32, a Ratnagiri resident had supplied the materials to them. Police then arrested Gadri too, Jagtap said.
“Gadri supplies explosives to quarry owners and road contractors.”
However, police have ruled out terror angle in the case. “In all probability, the explosives were meant to be sold to quarry owners, contractors or fishermen,” Jagtap said.