The Gujarat police have apprehended four individuals and confiscated over a tonne of explosives, along with 140 detonators, valued at Rs 1.03 lakh. The arrests were made during a raid on an illicit mining site in Wankaner taluka.
The Morbi Police Special Operations Group reports that the suspects had bored approximately 57 holes, each 45 feet deep, into government wasteland located in Survey No.163/1/24. Gelatin sticks and detonators were discovered implanted in 14 of these holes. Acting on a tip-off, the police stormed the location in Tarakiya village, seizing 418 gelatin sticks weighing 1,161 kg (1.16 tonnes), 140 detonators and five mobile phones.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Munna Bambhva, 36; Pradip Dhadhal, 25; Ravubhai alias Nagraj Sonara, 23 and Ranubhai Bambhva, 23. Bambhva and Ranubhai are residents of Tarakiya village, while Dhadhal and Sonara hail from Mesariya village in Wankaner and Janivadla village in Surendranagar district, respectively.
The quartet has been charged under sections 286 and 308 of the Indian Penal Code, as well as the Explosives Substances Act, for possessing large quantities of explosives without a license. A Wankaner court remanded them to four-day police custody on Monday evening.
The police are currently on the lookout for two additional suspects, Lomku Khachar and Devayat Dangar, residents of Mesariya and Beti villages, respectively.
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