04-12-2006, 10:59 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>3 held with one kg uranium </b>
Pioneer.com
Syed Zarir Hussain / GuwahatiÂ
Assam Police have arrested three persons for allegedly possessing a kilogram of uranium that they suspect could have been stolen from a Government facility in Meghalaya. They have informed the Atomic Energy officials based in Shillong.
A police spokesman said they had seized a kilogram of powdery substance from a youth in Guwahati on Tuesday with the packet bearing a printed inscription - 'Explosive number 2000/LG/ 27-D' AND 'B/337 Enriched Uranium, Department of Atomic Energy, Directorate of Explosive and Research Centre, Northeast Region, Shillong'.
"On specific information that the youth was in possession of some suspicious powdery substance, a team of police personnel disguised themselves as decoy customers and struck a deal for buying the uranium at a price of Rs 50 lakh," a senior police official said.
Two more youths were arrested later and the three were booked under the Explosives Act. "We are not sure what the powdery substance is. We have sent the packet for forensic examination to ascertain if it is uranium or something else," the official said.
"If the forensic results prove that the powdery substance is enriched uranium and stolen from the Atomic Energy, then it is a very serious thing," the official said. Atomic Energy department officials in Shillong were not immediately available for comments. Police arrested two youths last year in Guwahati with a similar consignment with almost the same inscriptions like the seizure made Tuesday. "The investigating officer dealing that case is now out of station and hence we are not in a position to tell the results of the forensic test," the official said. According to surveys by India's Atomic Energy Department, there could be up to 10,000 tonnes of uranium in Meghalaya's Domiasiat area - by far the largest and richest sandstone-type deposits available in the country.
The ores are spread over a mountainous terrain in deposits varying from eight to 47 meters from the surface in and around Domiasiat, 135 kilometer west of Shillong. After initial operations, the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) was forced to wind up mining in the mid-90s following a string of violent opposition from villagers and other pressure groups in Meghalaya who alleged emission of radioactive uranium was posing serious health hazards.
Uranium is an important mineral ore for making nuclear weapons, with experts saying the untapped reserve at Domiasiat could be a potential resource for India's nuclear research programme.
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Pioneer.com
Syed Zarir Hussain / GuwahatiÂ
Assam Police have arrested three persons for allegedly possessing a kilogram of uranium that they suspect could have been stolen from a Government facility in Meghalaya. They have informed the Atomic Energy officials based in Shillong.
A police spokesman said they had seized a kilogram of powdery substance from a youth in Guwahati on Tuesday with the packet bearing a printed inscription - 'Explosive number 2000/LG/ 27-D' AND 'B/337 Enriched Uranium, Department of Atomic Energy, Directorate of Explosive and Research Centre, Northeast Region, Shillong'.
"On specific information that the youth was in possession of some suspicious powdery substance, a team of police personnel disguised themselves as decoy customers and struck a deal for buying the uranium at a price of Rs 50 lakh," a senior police official said.
Two more youths were arrested later and the three were booked under the Explosives Act. "We are not sure what the powdery substance is. We have sent the packet for forensic examination to ascertain if it is uranium or something else," the official said.
"If the forensic results prove that the powdery substance is enriched uranium and stolen from the Atomic Energy, then it is a very serious thing," the official said. Atomic Energy department officials in Shillong were not immediately available for comments. Police arrested two youths last year in Guwahati with a similar consignment with almost the same inscriptions like the seizure made Tuesday. "The investigating officer dealing that case is now out of station and hence we are not in a position to tell the results of the forensic test," the official said. According to surveys by India's Atomic Energy Department, there could be up to 10,000 tonnes of uranium in Meghalaya's Domiasiat area - by far the largest and richest sandstone-type deposits available in the country.
The ores are spread over a mountainous terrain in deposits varying from eight to 47 meters from the surface in and around Domiasiat, 135 kilometer west of Shillong. After initial operations, the Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) was forced to wind up mining in the mid-90s following a string of violent opposition from villagers and other pressure groups in Meghalaya who alleged emission of radioactive uranium was posing serious health hazards.
Uranium is an important mineral ore for making nuclear weapons, with experts saying the untapped reserve at Domiasiat could be a potential resource for India's nuclear research programme.
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