Andhra Pradesh - Nalgonda   

Tamil Nadu police `inspect' Nalgonda explosives factory

S.Ramu

Power gel, booster, safety fuse found, say sources

NALGONDA: After the piles of rockets and rocket launchers of Maoists, it seems to be the turn of slurry, fuse wire and boosters that have given a jolt to the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh police.

In a bid to trace the transit route of explosive material, a police team from Tamil Nadu zeroed in on the factory premises of Gautami Explosives Limited at Saarajpet in Aler mandal in Nalgonda district and its administrative office in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

"We don't know how many people came here for the purpose, but we can say that they have taken away the photocopies of some invoices from the company's records," Vijay Kumar, Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu on Wednesday. The Nalgonda police are completely clueless as to what material the Tamil Nadu police found there.

Tracing channel

Unconfirmed sources said that the Tamil Nadu police found some "power gel, booster and safety fuse" from a Tata Sumo that was involved in a road accident under Ramanatham police station.

"They are here to trace back the channel of the consignment," the SP said.

It was learnt that Gautami Explosives, a registered firm, sells the slurry (used in blasting) to one Rajasree Enterprises, a distributor at Bhongir and a coal company at Manugur. In turn, the Rajasree Enterprises reportedly sold the material to K.E.Stores of Calicut in Kerala. "The consignment might have been diverted from Kerala to Tamil Nadu, allegedly to use for nefarious activities," a police officer said, adding the receivers of the explosive material could most probably be the Lankan Tigers.

A day after the Tamil Nadu police's inspection, a team of district police led by Yadagirigutta Circle Inspector G. Venkatesh verified the stocks of Goutami Explosives. "Going by the records we verified, everything is fine here," the CI said.

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