Himalayan News Service

Guwahati, April 10:

Police in Assam have uncovered a major racket involving the theft of uranium ore from a government facility by arresting two people.

A police spokesman said a kilogram of uranium was seized from two youths in Assam’s main city Guwahati yesterday. The packet containing the uranium bore the inscription: “Department of Atomic Energy, Directorate of Explosive and Research Centre, Northeast Region, Shillong.”

The DAE has a major establishment at Shillong, the capital of neighbouring Meghalaya state that has some 10,000 tonnes of high quality uranium ore.

“On specific information that two youths were in possession of some suspicious powdered explosives, a team of police personnel posed as customers and struck a deal for buying the uranium for Rs.1.5 million,” a senior police official said. “On the packet, it was written ‘Not for sale, Government use only, Explosives no 2000/27 D, Uranium 325 (5), Made in India.”