Date:14/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/14/stories/2008111450450100.htm

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Major bomb haul in Kannur district

Special Correspondent

Police unearth 125 country bombs from North Poyilur, near Panur, during raid

18 bombs seized from Cheruvanchery recently
Police intensify search for explosives in the area

KANNUR: In perhaps the biggest haul of country-made bombs in the region, the police seized 125 crude bombs from North Poyilur, near Panur, under the Kolavallur police station limits here on Thursday.

The police unearthed the bombs during a raid as part of the search for explosives following the death of two Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers at nearby Cheruvanchery on November 10 in an explosion which, the police suspected, was an accident while making the bombs. The police had seized 18 powerful bombs from Cheruvanchery on November 11.

Jayan Dominic, Sub-Inspector of the Kolavallur police station, said the police team raiding the area stumbled upon a cache of bombs in the morning. The bombs, totalling 125, were found in four gunny bags hidden in the bushes in an uninhabited plot at Maliyadikunnu at North Poyilur, a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the RSS.

The latest seizure of bombs from the politically volatile area in the district days after the two RSS workers were killed at Cheruvanchery in the blast suspected to be an accident while making bombs has raised fears about amassing of weapons, mostly bombs, in areas known for violent rivalry between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the BJP-RSS workers. The unearthing of country-bombs in recent days also sparked concern about suspected preparations of the political rivals in these areas for clashes.

The police said that they intensified searches for the explosives and other weapons in these areas after the incident at Cheruvanchery.