160 Electric Detonators Found Near Secunderabad Army Camp; Police Rule Out Arms Theft Link
Police recovered 160 commercial electric detonators near an Army camp in Secunderabad, but say they are unrelated to the recent service weapons theft.
Three days after the reported theft of service weapons from the Madras Regiment premises in Bollarum, Secunderabad Cantonment, security personnel discovered 160 electric detonators near the Army camp on Wednesday. The material was found in a plastic bucket close to the rear wall of the firing range, prompting an immediate alert to the Bollarum Police.
A police team, accompanied by a bomb disposal squad and a sniffer dog, examined the contents. The devices were identified as 33A-size commercial electric detonators, packed in eight bundles. Following the disposal team's instructions, the explosives were moved to a secure location.
Initial concerns that the discovery might be linked to the recent theft of four AK-203 assault rifles, an INSAS 1B1 rifle, six 9 mm pistols, a civilian 6.35-bore pistol, and over 1,800 rounds of ammunition from the 20 Madras Regiment have been dismissed. Police have clarified that the detonators were allegedly left behind by unidentified persons involved in construction work beside a nearby golf course and have no connection to the arms theft case.
The Bollarum Police have registered a case against unknown individuals for abandoning the explosive material. An investigation is underway to trace the source of the detonators and the circumstances under which they were left near the camp.
Meanwhile, the separate investigation into the weapons theft continues from an undisclosed location within the defence area. Military Intelligence, the Hyderabad Task Force, and the Counter Intelligence Cell are assisting the Army in the probe. Security restrictions remain in effect across the Secunderabad Cantonment area.