BHUBANESWAR: The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police on Wednesday arrested a man from Ganjam's Rambha police limits for possession of a whopping 196 quintals of ammonium nitrate along with 3,200 gelatine sticks and 10,406 detonators.
Acting on a tip-off, the agency's sleuths conducted a raid at Gopalpur village on Tuesday and nabbed Saroj Kumar Pattanaik of Santoshpur, and seized the huge quantity of explosives from his storehouse.
Pattanaik could not produce any valid documents to support possession of the explosives, an STF officer said.
The seized ammonium nitrate has 99 per cent purity exclusively meant for industrial purpose.
Initial investigation suggests the accused was possibly providing explosives to the anti-socials for carrying out illegal mining activities. However, investigation is on from all angles, he added.
The agency has registered a case in this regard under Sections 4,5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act, Section 9B of Explosives Act and Section 120(B) of the IPC.
Pattanaik was produced before a court in Khallikote, the STF said. The accused is a regular dealer of explosives and Rambha police station had registered a case against him on similar charges in 2016, the sources added.