965 detonators, 46 gelatin sticks seized in Maharashtra; two held
It is suspected that the explosives were meant for illegal fishing activity, police said.
Mumbai: A huge cache of explosives, including detonators and gelatin sticks, was seized from Maharashtra's Raigad district and two people were arrested in this connection, a police official said Tuesday.
Around 965 detonators, 46 gelatin sticks and some other material were seized on Monday after a raid at the house of Mohammad Umar Jahir Kazi at Dhalghar village in Mangaon tehsil of the coastal Raigad district adjoining Mumbai, he said.
It is suspected that the explosives were meant for illegal fishing activity, he said.
Kazi, 48, was arrested following the seizure, he said. On further inputs, another person, Shantilal Chokalal Gadri (32), was arrested from Hatkhamba village in the state's Ratnagiri district.
Gadri was suspected to be selling the explosives illegally to Kazi, he said. Some fishermen were injured recently in a blast while they were engaged in fishing activity in the Arabian Sea, Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar told PTI.
While investigating the case, police got information about Kazi and another person who was selling these explosives illegally for fishing activity, he said.
Accordingly, raids were conducted and the two men were nabbed, he said. "We have recovered gelatin sticks and detonators and arrested the two persons under the Explosives Act and the Explosive Substances Act," Paraskar said, adding that a probe was underway.
Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is an illegal practice of using explosives to stun or kill fish for easy collection.