06 February 2005	Sunday	26 Zilhaj 1425

NEW DELHI, Feb 5: Indian police found weapons-grade uranium on two men who were arrested in the country's north on suspicion of being drug peddlers, a report said on Saturday.

The discovery of 253.6 grams of "99 percent uranium" was made when police pounced on Khurshid and Aslam in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, in December, the Times of India said, giving only the first names of the two men.

The uranium plates were found in a lead-lined sophisticated box, police told the newspaper.

The substance was sent for analysis to Mumbais Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, which sent back a report stating the rods were "99 percent uranium by weight".

"I will not hazard a guess about where the uranium was headed," said the states police chief.

"A number of top investigating agencies are currently looking into that," he added.

Police sources told the newspaper the substance could have come from the Narora atomic facility, in the Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh state. -AFP