The Sulthan Bathery police seized large quantities of explosives, including 95 bags (each weighing 50 kg) of ammonium nitrate, from a vehicle on Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, a team led by Circle Inspector M.D. Sunil intercepted two vehicles, a truck and a car escorting it, at Ponkuzhy, near Muthanga, around 7.40 a.m.
Sathyanesan, 52, truck driver, and Krishnakumar, 40, truck cleaner from Cheruvathur at Desamangalam in Thrissur, were arrested.
Surali Rajan, 36, of Dharmapuri and Ranganathan, 38, of Salem in Tamil Nadu, who were escorting the truck in the car, were also arrested.
The seized materials include 189 cartons of gelatin sticks, each carton weighing 25 kg, and 20 cartons of safety fuse wire, each carton weighing 10 kg, Mr. Sunil told The Hindu .
The explosives were kept beneath 95 bags of onion in the truck, he said. The police also seized the truck and the car.
The accused said they were transporting the materials from Bengaluru to Kozhikode. It was suspected that the explosives were meant for granite quarries in Kozhikode district, he added.
The accused were charged under the Explosives Substances Act, 1908, and the Explosives Act. They would be produce before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court Sulthan Bathery on Friday.
