By IANS,
Kolkata : Five people were arrested and nearly 425 kg of gelatin was recovered in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, police said Wednesday adding they were investigating whether the explosive material was meant for Maoists.
“Acting on specific inputs, we conducted raids along Dubrajpur-Pandaveswar road in Dubrajpur area Tuesday night and recovered 17 packets of gelatin gel from a Bankura bound vehicle. Five people travelling in the vehicle were arrested,” said Birbhum Police Superintendent Nishat Parvez.
“Two were from Jamuria in Burdwan, two from Rampurhat in Birbhum and one from Bankura. We are interrogating to know the source and receivers of such a huge quantity of gelatin gel,” Parvez told IANS over phone.
A senior police officer said the huge quantity of gelatin was smuggled from the stone quarries in Md. Bazar block in Birbhum. The consignment might be meant for Maoists who are active in Bankura district, police said.
“We are investigating whether 4.25 quintals of gelatin gel was meant for the Maoists or not. All the bordering police stations in the district have been alerted,” said Parvez.