Dehradun: Accused wanted to sell seized radiography camera for crores, say cops
The five people who were arrested in connection with the recovery of a radiography camera from a Dehradrun flat last week had allegedly procured the device for ₹5 lakh and were trying to sell it for ₹10- ₹15 crore, police said on Sunday, as it arrested one more person in the case.
The five people who were arrested in connection with the recovery of a radiography camera from a Dehradrun flat last week had allegedly procured the device for ₹5 lakh and were trying to sell it for ₹10- ₹15 crore, police said on Sunday, as it arrested one more person in the case.
Radiography cameras use X-rays or gamma rays to create images of the inside of an object or body. These images can be used to inspect industrial objects. The recovery of the device on Thursday had initially triggered panic among local residents over suspicion that it was a radioactive object.
“On the basis of evidence, it appears that the accused were planning to commit fraud. One of the accused, Tabrez Alam, said he brought the device from Rashid Hasan at a price of ₹5 lakh and wanted to dupe people by selling it for ₹10-15 crore,” a senior Dehradun police officer privy to the investigation said, declining to be named.
Hasan, was arrested from his hometown in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday for allegedly selling the radiography camera to the remaining five people earlier.
“During the course of questioning, police learnt that those five people who were arrested earlier procured the device from Rashid. We questioned him and gathered evidence. He was later arrested,” Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh said.
On Thursday, the presence of a suspected radioactive object at a flat in Dehradun led to panic among local residents, with the city police engaging the state disaster response team and officials from the Bulandshahar-based Narora Atomic Power Station, who finally confirmed that the object was in fact a radiography camera.
The incident triggered a probe into how the device, labelled “Radiography Camera Manufactured by Board of Radiation And Isotope Technology Government Of India, Department Of Atomic Energy BARC/BRIT Vashi Complex Sector 20 Vashi Navi Mumbai”, reached the Dehradun flat. Five people were arrested under sections 270 (public nuisance), 271 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 272 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Singh earlier said that an examination of the device revealed that it did not contain radioactive elements “However, it did contain some other chemicals. It was decided to send the device to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre for further testing,” he said.
On Saturday, police said IT official Shwetabh Suman, who is the owner of the flat, is also under the scanner. “He was aware of the device and reportedly told the accused that he is an influential person and can help them sell the item,” the officer quoted above said.
The rules for radioactive materials are governed by the Atomic Energy Act, of 1962. The central government can prohibit the manufacture, possession, use, transfer, export, import, transport, and disposal of radioactive substances without written consent.