New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry has asked Mizoram government to conduct an audit report of the explosives being used for road construction and other activities in the state following intelligence reports that such explosives were being pilfered and diverted to Myanmar.
"The Mizoram government has been directed to conduct an audit of the gelatin obtained by them for road construction and other activities," a government official said.
The development took place after Intelligence Bureau (IB), in a report submitted to the Home Ministry, indicated the possible pilferage of explosives like detonators, boxes of safety fuse, and air guns meant for construction activities.
The IB in its report, accessed by ETV Bharat, also mentioned the seizure of a huge quantity of such explosives being seized by the security agencies in Mizoram.
"There is every possibility that explosives meant for construction work is being funnelled to a Myanmar-based militant outfit fighting that country's military junta. People who are involved in the construction activities might be involved in explosive pilferage," the official said.
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Earlier this year, security agencies seized 2,400 kgs of explosives, including 1,000 detonators and 4,500 metres of detonating fuse from a vehicle in Zawnling area under Tipa police station in Saiha district of Mizoram.
The National Investigation Agency, which has taken over the case, said that the consignment was meant for a Myanmar-based outfit, Chin National Front (CNF), which is in the process of accumulating arms and ammunitions for resisting the government of Myanmar.
Founded in 1988, CNF aims to establish a federal union in Myanmar based on self-determination and ethnic equality. And the outfit's armed wings are desperately trying to put a strong resistance against Myanmar's military government. Its headquarter at Camp Victoria is located on the bank of river Tiau, which is only a few kilometers away from the bordering Champhai district of Mizoram.
Security agencies have been recovering such cache of arms and explosives along the Mizoram-Myanmar border ever since the military seized power in the neighbouring country early last year.
Security agencies in India believe that many of the refugees from Myanmar's Chin State who have taken shelter in Mizoram might be in the process of accumulating explosives from India's Northeastern states.
It is worth mentioning that the authorities in Myanmar also communicated with Indian government in this connection. "Recovery of such explosives from along the Mizoram-Myanmar border pointed out that the consignment is meant for Myanmar," said a senior official from the Assam Rifles to this correspondent.
Assam Rifles guard the 510 km porous border of Mizoram which shares its border with the neighbouring country. Apart from Mizoram, three other states, including Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), shared their border with Myanmar.
In May, 11,000 gelatin rods, a huge number of detonators, boxes of safety fuse, air guns and other materials were seized in a series of raids. Gelatin is an explosive material which is used for construction activities and industrial purposes. It is one of the cheapest explosives often used in road construction and mining activities.
Gelatin consists of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or gun cotton) dissolved in either nitro-glycerine or nitro-glycol and mixed with wood pulp and sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. Gelatin rods or sticks are out together for explosions triggered by a detonator.
While going ahead with its investigation, the NIA recently conducted searches at two locations in Aizawal and recovered incriminating materials, including mobile phone, bank documents of the suspects involved in explosives pilferage.
The NIA has confirmed that the explosives was meant for the Myanmar-based Chin National Front which has been accumulating arms, ammunition and explosives for armed struggle against the government of Myanmar.
