10-14-2007, 08:42 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>US-made 'uranium' seized from bus in West Bengal</b>
October 13, 2007
Kolkata: A briefcase, supposedly containing uranium manufactured in the United States, was seized from a <b>bus in Birbhum district of West Bengal by customs officials</b>.
Acting on a tip-off, customs officials raided a bus on way from Jangipur in Murshidabad to Barakar in Burdwan, around 200 km from here, on Thursday and seized the briefcase.
<b>On opening the briefcase, officers found a leather bag made of rhinoceros hide with markings- Uranium 100/100, Made in USA, Code-001, Weight - 1 pound</b>. District officials were informed and customs officers from Krishnagar in Nadia rushed to the spot.
The bag was kept at an isolated place and later handed over to scientists from the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) in Kolkata, local reports here said.
The owner of the briefcase was absconding. The driver and the conductor of the bus were questioned but they failed to throw any light on the passenger who left the case behind.
"We had prior information of some contraband being moved along this route. A joint team of officers from Murshidabad and Nadia conducted the raid," said Bibhas Jana, customs officer, Naihati.
Experts suspect the material found in the bag could be some low-grade ore from which radioactive material could be extracted.
<b>"It may not be processed uranium. It may be some other materials like pitch blend but we can only ascertain it after tests,"</b> a VECC scientist said.
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October 13, 2007
Kolkata: A briefcase, supposedly containing uranium manufactured in the United States, was seized from a <b>bus in Birbhum district of West Bengal by customs officials</b>.
Acting on a tip-off, customs officials raided a bus on way from Jangipur in Murshidabad to Barakar in Burdwan, around 200 km from here, on Thursday and seized the briefcase.
<b>On opening the briefcase, officers found a leather bag made of rhinoceros hide with markings- Uranium 100/100, Made in USA, Code-001, Weight - 1 pound</b>. District officials were informed and customs officers from Krishnagar in Nadia rushed to the spot.
The bag was kept at an isolated place and later handed over to scientists from the Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) in Kolkata, local reports here said.
The owner of the briefcase was absconding. The driver and the conductor of the bus were questioned but they failed to throw any light on the passenger who left the case behind.
"We had prior information of some contraband being moved along this route. A joint team of officers from Murshidabad and Nadia conducted the raid," said Bibhas Jana, customs officer, Naihati.
Experts suspect the material found in the bag could be some low-grade ore from which radioactive material could be extracted.
<b>"It may not be processed uranium. It may be some other materials like pitch blend but we can only ascertain it after tests,"</b> a VECC scientist said.
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