Police in the Indian state of Maharashtra has seized seven kilograms (15.4 pounds) of natural uranium and arrested two people on charges of ‘illegal possession of highly radioactive material.
According to the Anadolu news agency, according to the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, the seized material is worth about ً 2.9 million and the matter is under investigation.
“We have received information that a man named Jaggar Pandya was going to sell pieces of uranium illegally, a trap was set to catch him and he was arrested,” Maharashtra police said.
He said that the investigation of this case has revealed that a man named Abu Tahir had given him these pieces of uranium.
Police said that when Tahir was caught, a large quantity of substance was recovered from him.
The case was registered in Mumbai on Wednesday when a report from the Bhabha Atomic Research Center confirmed that the seized material contained highly radioactive material.
Police said they had received a report that the substance was natural uranium, which they said was highly radioactive and dangerous to human life.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the suspects were being questioned about the source of the material seized and where it was being sent.
According to the local news agency Press Trust of India, the two accused appeared in a local court on Wednesday, which remanded them in the custody of the anti-terrorism squad until May 12.
This is the second recent seizure of highly radioactive material by police in India, following the seizure of about 9kg of uranium in 2016 in Thana, Maharashtra.
Uranium is used in other fields, including nuclear explosives and medicine.
