Police have seized 100 gelatin sticks, 100 electric detonators and 15 metres of fuse wire and arrested a man, who carried them to be sold for fishermen.
Acting on a tip-off, a police team, led by Sub-Inspector of Police S.M. Hussain, attached to SP Pattinam police station and in-charge of Thondi police station, arrested S. Malayandi (35) of Magilapatti in Iluppur taluk in Pudukottai district at the new bus stand in Thondi in the early hours of Wednesday.
Inquiries revealed that Malayandi brought the explosives to be sold to local fishermen, who were engaged in dynamite fishing, a banned fishing practice. He was arrested under Section 5(a) of the Explosives and Substances Act, and produced before a Magistrate Court here, which remanded him in judicial custody, the police said.
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The accused told the police that he bought the gelatin sticks from one Babu who, he said, was a member of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Police inquiries revealed that Babu is the chairman of Iluppur town panchayat.
The police launched a hunt for K. Senthil, a fisherman from Pudukudi, who was believed to have ordered the explosives.
100 gelatin sticks, 100 electric detonators and 15 metres of fuse wire were seized