Cops seek info on uranium from airline

THANE: Investigators probing the seizure of 8.6 kgs of

Depleted Uranium

(DU) have sought the information from the Indian airlines authorities as the two accused arrested repeated that they secured the metal from the cockpit of a scrapped Indian airlines planes nearly a decade back.

It was on Saturday that the two accused —Saifullah Khan 37 and

Kishor Prajapati

59—were formally arrested and a case was registered at Kasarwadvli police station after getting the positive reports of

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

(BARC) stating that the samples are radioactive.

Investigators are seeking detailed information about the use of DU in the plane and also to verify if the airlines really carried the metal in such a huge quantity. “We are formally sending a request to Indian Airlines seeking the information about the said scraped plane which Prajapati claimed he got in the DU from,” said a police officer.

In his statement to the police, Prajapati told the investigators that it was in 2006 that he had got a ‘contract’ of scrap Indian Airlines plane and found the 8.6 kg DU in the cockpit. Also, Khan was helping him out to sell it in the market since a very long time.

Prajapati also told the investigators that he was under severe debt and was desperately looking for customers to ease the financial pressure. “Prajapati told us that he even secured lab reports to confirm that it was indeed DU but was trapped by one of the decoy who showed interest in purchasing the metal,” said Ravindra Doiphode, the senior inspector of anti snatching squad. The duo has been remanded to police custody till Tuesday. — Nishikant Karlikar