18kg of crude bomb materials found in Palghar

ln a joint raid, the Mumbai anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday found around 18kg of explosives in a jungle between Varai and Sativli villages of the Palghar district.

ln a joint raid, the Mumbai anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday found around 18kg of explosives in a jungle between Varai and Sativli villages of the Palghar district.

With Diwali round the corner, the cache has worried the police.

Around 35 gelatin sticks, 39 detonators, 4.5kg of white powder and 14kg of black powder were recovered, ATS sources said.

Bhagwan Yashod, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Palghar, said the explosives have been sent to the Kalina laboratory for a forensic analysis.

Sanjay Saxena, joint commissioner, Mumbai crime branch, said no one has been arrested yet.

During the road repairs at Sativli village on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad NH8, the workers recovered the package containing explosives and informed the police, who sought the ATS and crime branch’s help, sources said. According to police sources, crude bombs are made from readily available material.

Fire crackers, nails, gelatin sticks, detonators, tobacco tins, thin gauge pipes, gunpowder and other materials, form the major ingredients for creating bombs, said a police source.

Sometimes, they are stolen from mining areas, said the source, to manufacture crude bombs. Besides mining, gelatin sticks are also used for digging wells and other purposes, including catching fish. They are prohibited, but are freely available from stockists.