Dehradun: Police in Uttarakhand are high on alert after finding a large quantity of highly explosive gelatin sticks near a school in the Almora district.
It is reported that 161 gelatin sticks, weighing over 20 kg were found in a bush in the Sult area near the Government High Secondary School in Dabara village.
The recovery of the explosives gains attention particularly after nearly 3,000 kg explosives were found in Haryana linked to the Delhi blast days ago.
The school principal Subhash Singh was the first to notice suspicious packets in the bush and alerted the police.
Police immediately cordoned off the area with bomb disposal squad and dog squads arriving in the spot, carrying out thorough search.
The search by canine unit led to discovering a few packets of gelatin sticks in the bush before spotting more packets about 20 feet away.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Devendra Pincha said: ‘161 gelatin sticks were recovered from the bushes near a school in Dabra village. The police reached the spot. The bomb disposal squad also conducted an inquiry. The nearby areas were also searched.’
The officer said probe is underway to find out why gelatin sticks, commonly used for blasting rocks for mining purpose, were brought to the village.
A case under Section 4(a) of the Explosive Substances Act 1908 and Section 288 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) was filed against unknown people.
Security agencies are high on alert after the recent blast in Delhi carrying out searches in different parts of the country, according to the report.