A huge consignment of 10,000 detonators was seized and 10 persons, including three from Manipur, were arrested by the city police at the parcel counter located at the Gnanapuram entry of Visakhapatnam railway station.
The 10-member gang was making arrangements to transport the explosive material by train when they were apprehended.
The consignment included electronic detonators, which could be used to set off explosions, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) K. Muralidhar told the media here on Wednesday.
Thanga Chami, Momo Darwar Lamkong, and R.K. Vijay of Moreh area of Manipur had hatched a plan to excavate gold illegally from the hilly areas in Tamu district of Myanmar.
They needed explosives for digging operation. One of the accused K. Chandra Kumar, who returned from Moreh region, had set up a jewellery shop at old Gajuwaka in the city in 1996.
The trio approached Chandra Kumar and sought his help for arranging detonators. They gave him gold valued at Rs.2.10 lakh and an additional Rs.1.9 lakh cash after Chandra Kumar mediated with S. Raja Rao and V. Pydi Raju for arranging 10,000 detonators for Rs.4 lakh.
Raja Rao and Pydi Raju purchased the explosives from Bondu Appa Rao of Venkateswara Explosives at Chodavaram in the district with the help of D. Ramanababu and B. Jagadish Babu. B. Sankara Rao assisted them in shifting the explosives to the parcel office. The explosive material was concealed in grinder boxes for transportation by the Kanyakumari-Dibrugarh weekly express.
On a tip-off, the police team led by inspectors B. Mohan Rao (Kancharapalem) and G.V. Ramana of the City Task Force nabbed the gang members and recovered the explosives from them.
