THATTA: Four suspects were arrested during a raid on a desolate place along the Makli hilly terrain on Monday to seize a big stock of ingredients used in making explosives.

SSP Fida Hussain Mastoi told Dawn that Thatta police in coordination with intelligence agencies carried out the raid on a tip-off that the material was dumped at the specified site.

“The stock weighing a total of 350 kilograms was packed in sacks and dumped near a stone crushing plant owned by Ibrahim Pathan,” he said.

The SSP said the seized material included urea, phosphorous, nitrate and phosphate. In reply to a question that the material is generally used to prepare dynamites for blowing up rocks and further processing at stone crushing plants, he argued that the mandatory licence required to be obtained from the chief inspector of explosives was not issued in this particular case and such unauthorised material could be used in acts of terrorism.

The SSP identified the four arrested suspects as Asghar Ali, Imam Bukhsh, Munawwar and Raja, and said that a police team was sent to Karachi to hunt down the plant’s owner.

Published in Dawn March 3rd , 2015

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