Ammunition seizure; Police, explosives experts scour area

A day after a huge cache of explosives and ammunition was unearthed in the district, a top police official today said it could have been buried 35 years ago, even as explosives experts scoured the area.

More than 50 boxes of abandoned ammunition, 41 light machine guns, 22 machine guns and five land mines were recovered near Thangachimadam area in the district yesterday.

The explosives were recovered after occupants of the house alerted police to what they had discovered while a septic tank was being dug following which police were despatched to the spot.

Police said the items seized included eight rolls of wires for connecting the explosives, 20 mines, 11 packets of explosive chemicals, 15 hand grenades, 400 automatic rifle bullets, 5500 small arms ammunition ,4928 SLR ammunition, 199 sniper class bullets and 20 M5-302 bullets.

Police and explosives experts were checking the area to find if more explosives and ammunition have been buried, officials said.

"We have to inspect the nature of the explosives..we don't know whether the bombs are still powerful and mines could explode.

For the purpose of safety, we have buried explosives in the same place, but the bullets and other ammunition will be sent for examination to the Ordnance unit in Madhya Pradesh," Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena said.

"We have to test the efficiency of the explosives and ammunition...where they were made..when they were made and whether bombs and mines are still live," he said.

The SP said the explosives and ammunition could have been buried 35 years ago.

According to an official, in 1983, various Lankan militant organisations were having training camps in the island and they could have buried it there.

"We are not sure, but we are investigating," an official said.

In 1990, police had seized some automatic weapons and ammunition while conducting a search of the beach in Ramanathapuram district following a tip-off when the war between the LTTE and Sri Lankan armed forces was at its peak, the official said.

The entire area has been cordoned off and police are maintaining tight vigil.

Some officials said after former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a suicide bomber at Sriperumbudur in 1991, the training camps were closed and those who had left the area could have buried the explosives and ammunition.

As it was not possible to take the seized explosives to court in view of the risks involved, a judicial magistrate has been requested to visit the site, officials said.

Police have evacuated some people in the area as a precautionary measure.