PALAKKAD: Kerala police on Tuesday arrested a Tiruvannamalai native as the third accused in a case involving an attempt to smuggle a large quantity of explosives from Dharapuram in Erode to Kerala, concealed beneath a watermelon consignment.

The arrested person was identified as Paneer Selvam (54) of Tiruvannamalai. Palakkad Town South police said he was a key link in the supply chain involved in sourcing and transporting the explosives from Tamil Nadu into Kerala.

With this, the number of arrests in the case has risen to three. Earlier, police had arrested Senthil Kumar, the driver of the pickup vehicle, and Durairaj, the driver of the escort car. Both were remanded in custody.