TIRUCHY: Thanjavur police seized raw materials used for manufacturing country crackers hoarded in a farm in an interior part of the district on Wednesday and arrested a man.

After the death of two persons at Neyveli Vadapathi village in an illegal cracker unit blast recently, the Thanjavur Collector B Priyanka Pankajam instructed the officials to conduct surprise raids across the district and seal the illegally functioning cracker units. She also ordered special teams to monitor these units.

Accordingly, a team comprising Thiruvonam Tahsildar Sundaramurthy conducted raids across Neyveli Vadapathi, Tiruvonam and Uranipuram for the past few days.

On Wednesday, the team had information that a huge quantity of country crackers and raw materials were stored at a farm owned by C Chandra from Nadutheru in Neyveli Vadapathi. Soon, the team rushed to the spot along with the Vattathikottai police and found that they were hoarding the raw materials in barrels. Subsequently, they seized the materials.

The further inquiry found that P Muniyayya (62) was the person behind hoarding the materials, and so the police arrested him on Wednesday.

The officials said that the search will continue in the district and strict action would be initiated against those who involve in illegal manufacture of crackers.