Monday, 15 JULY 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The police arrested another accused in the suspected radioactive material (RAM) device seizure case on Sunday. This is the sixth arrest in the case since the police seized the device on Thursday, the Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh said. The accused was identified as Rashid who is allegedly involved in making a clone of the RAM device found in Rajpur. Singh stated that the Rajpur police station had received information from an informer on Thursday about some suspicious people at a flat in the Rajpur area. The informer reported that the suspects had likely brought a radioactive device and were discussing its purchase and sale. A police team arrived at the location and found five men in the house along with a device labeled ‘Radiography Camera Manufactured By Board of Radiation And Isotope Technology, Government Of India, Department Of Atomic Energy BARC/BRIT Vashi Complex Sector 20, Vashi, Navi Mumbai.’ They also found a black box with the suspects claiming that it contained radioactive powder and posed a radiation threat if opened. The police arrested all five suspects identified as Sumit Pathak from Agra, Tabrez Alam from Saharanpur, Sarvar Hussain from New Delhi, Zaid Ali from Bhopal and Abhishek Jain from Bhopal. The police team also sealed the room containing the device due to the potential radiation risk and called the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team. The team analysed the device with the help of the specialised equipment and stated that it can potentially contain potentially dangerous chemicals or a radioactive substance. It was later discovered that such devices are manufactured at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai and are used to check for leaks in large pipelines and in the medical field.Singh said that the BARC was notified about the device and the Radiation Emergency Response Team from Narora Atomic Power Station in Bulandshahar arrived at the location on Friday and tested the device. After testing, the team reported that there was no radioactive substance in the device but other chemicals were present, prompting the device to be sent to the BARC for further testing. The BARC will be conducting the testing of the device. Singh said that during interrogation, Alam said that he bought the device about 10-11 months ago from his acquaintance Rashid alias Sameer, a resident of Saharanpur. Rashid was initially brought for questioning and then later arrested on Sunday. The SSP said that the names of other people from Delhi and Faridabad have also come to light and the police are gathering information about them. Considering the investigation so far, the police have also added section 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery), 340/61(2) (forging a document and using it as genuine) and 338 (forgery of valuable security) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on all the accused. Besides this, the police also declared the former Income Tax commissioner Shwetabh Suman absconding in the case. He had allegedly provided his flat in Rajpur for the deal of selling the alleged RAM device. The SSP said that the police have taken some people into custody for interrogation. The police will also thoroughly probe other arrested accused after taking their police custody remand (PCR) from the court, he said. It is also being said that some central agencies are also involved in probing the case considering its sensitivity.
