Fear mounts as explosives yet to be removed

Lamenting about the hard time, Sahayaraj, a villager said either such explosives should be destroyed or taken to safer place, immediately. Since it could be detonated anytime, fears were growing in minds of people, he said.

According to sources, the recovered ones were military ammunition and quantum of risk is low with high explosives, which require more amount of energy to detonate and low explosives, a throw down type, which could deflagrate, are a high risk factor. Since the recovered explosives were old dated back to 1970’s, its efficiency could have degraded. “Hence, safety is paramount in such conditions and any case of mishandling explosives, which need to be kept in ventilation, could be dangerous. No source of heat energy should penetrate the site. While transporting such explosives, it needs to be fixed in thermocol and in an unshakeable way,” sources mentioned.

Speaking to DT Next, Superintendent of Police, Omprakash Meena said, court order on whether to destroy or shift the explosives is awaited, expecting it in a day or two.

However, the site is being guarded under the watchful eyes of six police personnel. Rameswaram Deputy Superintendent of Police, M Mahesh said, a letter proposing to shift such material from the site to nearby explosive storage magazine was forwarded from the office of Controller of Explosives. Samples of explosive residues were collected by Deputy Controllers of Explosives before certifying it. The officials had sent such samples to the Explosives Division of Forensic Science Lab, Chennai to determine on the type of explosives, he said.