The police conducted extensive raids on politically and communally sensitive areas in Kannur district on Friday to unearth explosives and weapons following apprehensions that some elements are trying to vitiate communal harmony and instigate trouble in the district.
The police combed areas under the limits of all the 45 police stations in the district. They unearthed nearly 10 detonators, 4 kg of sodium nitrate, and some quantity of fuse wire from a quarry in the Mattannur police station limits in the Iritty subdivision.
P. Sukumaran, A.P. Shaukathali, Pradeep Kumar, and A.S. Sreenivas, Deputy Superintendents of Police respectively of Kannur, Thalassery, and Iritty and Assistant Superintendent of Police of Taliparamba, led the raids conducted under the supervision of District Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul R. Nair.
Circle inspectors and sub-inspectors also participated in the raids that began in the morning. Personnel of the bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs joined the raids for unearthing explosives and defusing them. Police sources said the raids were ordered by Additional Director General of Police (North Zone) N. Shanker Reddy. The police officers here got the instruction of the SP for raids in the morning and the raids that began around 8 a.m. lasted till 11 a.m.
In recent incidents, country-made bombs, explosives, and swords had been seized at Poyilur and Chittarithode in the Kolavallur police station limits and at Thillankery in the Iritty police station limits. The police under the Iritty subdivision have been monitoring the sensitive areas in the wake of the seizure at Thillankery.
