Guwahati, May 20 : A little learning, it is said, is a dangerous thing. That’s what happened to a policeman and his colleagues who balked at the idea of touching a sealed packet supposedly containing a cake of radioactive uranium.
When the team from Shantipur police station in Karbi Anglong caught four youths with the wax-sealed box, they were certain it was a “big catch”. Otherwise why would someone take so much precaution?
When an army team broke open the box and suspected it could be uranium, the jubilation vanished.
So scared was one officer that he even refused to carry the substance to the forensic laboratory in Guwahati since his son, who is a student of science, had warned him about the hazards of uranium radiation.
The police have kept the consignment wrapped in a thick aluminium foil and are contemplating to bury it “deep” under ground.
The arrested quartet, Mohan Thapa, Biju Thapa, Kishor Thapa and Napa Thapa, revealed during interrogation that the consignment was handed over to them by two youths from Manipur a few days ago.
A police officer at Santipur police station said the four were carrying the 850gm consignment containing the yellow cake in a bag and were travelling on bicycles when a police team apprehended them at Deopani near the Dhansiri river last evening.
The officer said the arrested youths, all of them of Nepali origin, were instructed to sell the uranium to militant organisations at a price not less then Rs 6 lakh.
Uranium is a dense, radioactive metallic element found in rocks and soil. It gives off invisible bursts of penetrating energy called “atomic radiation”. Exposure to atomic radiation can cause death within a few days or weeks. Smaller doses can cause burns, loss of hair, nausea, loss of fertility and pronounced changes in the blood.
Still smaller doses, too small to cause any immediate visible damage, can result in cancer or leukaemia in the person exposed, congenital abnormalities in his or her children (including physical deformities, diseases and mental retardation), and possible genetic defects in future generations.
Telegraph India
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