Seized RDX-TNT was stolen from military

THAT FATEFUL DAY: Chemical analysis of the site of the Malegaon blasts indicated use of RDX in all the four bombs that went off

Mateen Hafeez I TNN
Mumbai: The 195 kg mixture of RDX and TNT powder that police had seized from an Ahmednagar scrap dealer’s godown last month had been stolen from a military cantonment in the same town, investigators have revealed.

“The military had kept the shells aside to be sold as scrap in the cantonment, from where they were stolen,’’ said additional superintendent of police, Mahesh Patil, who holds additional charge in Ahmednagar.

The police had seized 113 stolen shells and the 195 kg of RDX-TNT mixture from scrap dealer Shankar Shelke’s godown in Ahmednagar on September 4. It is thought that Shelke was in the business of breaking open stolen shells, taking out the powder, and then selling the shells as scrap, an investigator said. The powder would then be discarded, said police, who refused to comment on whether it would have been potent enough to cause an explosion.

A chemical analysis report on the powder has been submitted to the court, a police officer said, refusing to divulge even the percentage of RDX and TNT in the mixture.

“Soon after the seizure, Shelke disappeared and was listed as wanted,’’ a police officer said. Shelke was found dead on September 9, a day after the Malegaon serial blasts that killed 38 people and injured 297 others, a source said.

A post-mortem report revealed that Shelke, 50, had died from consuming poison and his death was listed as a suicide, police said. “It seems that Shelke was scared of being arrested when he realised how serious the crime was. After he committed suicide, we arrested his cousin, Ambadas Shelke, 49, who was also aware of Shelke’s business,’’ said Patil.

Patil said the court has permitted the police to conduct a brain-mapping test on Ambadas for which arrangements are being worked out with the Bangalore forensics laboratory. Ambadas has been sent to magistrate’s custody.

The police are surprised as to how Shelke could have stolen the shells despite the tight security at the military cantonment. Investigations are on to find out as to who bought the scrap from Shelke.

Patil said that on the basis of Shelke’s mobile phone records, the police have arrested two more persons—scrap dealer Bhanpurwal Kozam Isa, 35, a resident of Chor Bazaar near J J Marg in Mumbai, and Shankar Nana Gaikwad, 25, a resident of Ahmednagar. Gaikwad was employed at Shelke’s shop.

The police are also probing the origins of the poison that killed Shelke. The phone records of the Shelkes and two other people are being investigated. “We have written to the military authorities informing them about the seizure. Samples of the powder will also be examined at a military laboratory,’’ added Patil.

Police sources said there is a possibility of the accused being handed over to the Malegaon police for investigations into the Malegaon blasts as RDX was used in those explosions.

Rajvardhan, superintendent of police, Nashik (rural), who is heading the Malegaon investigations, said, “The matter is under investigation. I don’t want to comment.’’

Ever since the news of the seizure has come to light, residents of Malegaon have been demanding that a thorough probe of the matter be done. Though the police investigating Malegaon blasts are tightlipped about the investigations, the residents suspect that the RDX-TNT haul from Ahmednagar could help nab the Malegaon blasts accused.

The Times of India, October 12,2006