Prohibition and Enforcement Wing of the Dharmapuri police arrested one person and seized from him 20,000 detonators and 54 gelatin sticks during a vehicle check up near Harur on Friday night. Police sources said that a team led by Inspector C. Senthil (PEW) intercepted a van near Pazhayapet in Harur on suspicion and found that the explosive materials were concealed in a box inside the van.
The driver, S. Suresh, confessed to the police that he was transporting the explosives from Tirupattur to Salem.
He also said that the owner of van, D. Sankar, was waiting in an unknown destination in Salem to receive the explosives.
Suresh was arrested by the PEW police and was handed over to the Harur police. Harur Police Inspector P. Thangaraj registered a case under Section 4 and 5 of Indian Explosives Substances Act, 1908.
Sanjay Kumar, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Salem Range, and Amit Kumar Singh, Superintendent of Police, visited the spot and conducted an inquiry on Friday, police sources said.
Suresh was produced before the magistrate at a local court on Friday and was remanded to judicial custody for 15 days. Suresh was lodged in the Salem Central prison. The seized explosives was said to be worth Rs. 3 lakh. A search was on for the owner of the van Sankar.
