Major arms haul in Varanasi

In a major haul, police have seized 6,000 detonators and 400 highly explosive gelatin rods from near Ramnagar area, suspected to have been transported by Naxalites to disrupt the ongoing Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

A police team on patrolling duty near Vishwasundari bridge situated on the border of Varanasi and Chandauli district found these explosive materials lying abandoned in the jungle area late last night, Ramnagar police station incharge D K Tripathi told PTI on Saturday.

The seizure of explosives in the area prone to naxal activities points to the possibility that the consignment could have been brought by Naxal outfits for carrying out subversive activities and vitiating the assembly election process in the region, Tripathi said.

The plans of MCC, a Naxal outfit, to take revenge for the killing of their self-styled zonal commander Sanjay Kol in Chandauli district earlier this week in a gun battle could be another motive behind the explosive consignment, which did not not reach to the hands of the insurgents, he said.