Dehradun police makes sixth arrest in suspected radioactive device case

The Dehradun Police on Sunday made the sixth arrest in connection with the suspected radioactive device found at a flat in the city earlier this week, police said.

According to police, the accused has been identified as Rashid Hasan, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, who reportedly supplied the device to the five others who were arrested on Friday.

Dehradun senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ajai Singh said, “On the questioning of the five accused arrested on July 12, it came to light that they procured the device from this Saharanpur resident. We took the accused into custody for questioning. The local police and other agencies interrogated him and gathered evidence against him. He was arrested thereafter.”

Meanwhile, police officials privy to the investigation said they suspect a case of fraud wherein the accused tried to sell the device, most possibly fake, at a price of around ₹10-15 crore.

A police official who didn’t wish to be named said, “On the basis of evidence that has come to light and questioning of the accused, it appears that it is a fraud case. One of the accused, Tabrez Alam, told us that he bought this from a Saharanpur resident at a price of ₹5 lakh and wanted to dupe people by selling it at a price of ₹10-15 crore under the pretext that it is used in heavy industry, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy.”

According to police, they have also detained two more people, other than five arrests that were made earlier in the case.

“The accused possibly prepared the device at home,” the police official said.

On Saturday, police said the role of IT official Shwetabh Suman, who rented his flat to the accused, is also under their scanner. “He was aware of the device and told the accused that he can help them,” the official said.

A suspected radioactive device, whose presence triggered panic at a flat in Dehradun on Friday, could be fake, police said on Saturday, adding that they were awaiting the report from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to confirm its nature.

“Though it is too early to say anything before we get the BARC report, it is confirmed that the device didn’t contain any radiation element. It could possibly be an attempt to trigger panic. The device was carrying a label, suggesting that it is manufactured at Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology (BRIT). However, the label can be fake too. The accused has said that he bought the device from Saharanpur and wanted to sell the device at a profit. He also said that he was in talks with Sumit Pathak, an Agra resident, to sell his device,” superintendent of police (city) Pramod Kumar had said.