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  Metros   Mumbai  24 Dec 2016  Seized Uranium worth Rs 24 crore came from scrapped aircraft

Seized Uranium worth Rs 24 crore came from scrapped aircraft

THE ASIAN AGE. | VRUSHALI PURANDARE
Published : Dec 24, 2016, 3:35 am IST
Updated : Dec 24, 2016, 6:53 am IST

The police nabbed the duo when they were attempting to sell the depleted Uranium to a potential buyer.

The Thane crime branch team with the seized metal.
 The Thane crime branch team with the seized metal.

Mumbai: Days after the Thane crime branch seized 8.86 kgs of depleted Uranium, worth Rs 24 crore, and detained two including scrap dealer Kishore Prajapati, the probe has revealed that he had allegedly sourced it from a scrapped Boeing aircraft in 2006, and stored it in his house till 2014.  

“Prajapati got the depleted Uranium verified by a privately-run lab and approached potential buyers in the grey market,” Joint Commissioner of Police (Thane)  Ashutosh Dumbhare, told The Asian Age. Alongwith Prajapati, the Thane police also nabbed his alleged aide, Saifullah Khan (38), who had attempted to sell the depleted Uranium, or DU, and share the profit. The police nabbed the duo when they were attempting to sell the DU to a potential buyer. The police had earlier suspected that the Uranium had been imported from abroad, to be sold in India.

Mr Dumbhare said, “ We are investigating the case and looking for the airplane from which he purchased the Uranium and how the company handed it over to him without testing. A strict action would be initiated against the culprits involved in this crime.”

DCP Parag Manere, said, “Prajapati is a scrap dealer and has been in the business since more than 15 years. He purchases the lot of scarp and then breaks it into chips and sells it further.” He further added, “Both were frequent fliers to the Gulf and hailed from Kasarvadavali.” “After the product was seized, we sent it to BARC for analysis and, on Wednesday, they replied confirming that it was depleted uranium,” Dumbhare said.

“We are questioning them to ascertain whether they had any fixed buyers in mind when they came to the city. We are also probing where they sourced the depleted uranium from,” he said.

Tags: crime branch, uranium, the asian age
Location: India, Maharashtra, Mumbai (Bombay)