India:  A huge cache of low intensity bombs has been seized from a Raigad man by crime branch. Pravin Patil (34) was nabbed from Daighar with the explosives used to hunt down wild boars.
Patil, a mason, is a resident of Naukhar village in Alibaug. Police seized 292 explosives, locally known as ‘dukar bombs’, which are blended with dough or strewn with chicken and thrown in forests or fields.
When wild boar eat them, it triggers an explosion, killing the animal instantly. Later, its flesh is consumed or skin is sold in the black market, said a police officer. Police said a crime branch team spread out in Daighar following a tip-off from their network of informers.

When Patil came to the spot, the informer pointed out that he was the person carrying the explosives, so the sleuths nabbed him and found a cloth bag with him, said deputy commissioner of police (crime) Abhishek Trimukhe. Police had alerted the bomb detection and disposal squad and Alex, a sniffer dog, barked, suggesting that it was explosives, said senior police inspector (crime branch) Nitin Thakre.

A search revealed a plastic bag with powder used in crackers along with five coins and small pellets.

“A preliminary probe suggested that the accused was a middleman, while the manufacturer was in Raigad district. He was carrying the bombs to Palghar district and going to sell them for each,” said investigation officer, Sandeep Bagul.

“This seems to be only the tip of the iceberg and there could be a bigger racket. In Konkan region, wild boars go on the rampage in fields, destroying the harvest, so the bombs are used to kill them. There have been cases of pets sniffing the explosives and getting killed in the region, Bagul told TOI.

(Source: The Times of India)