Gelatin sticks seized near Mumbai traced to same company that made Antilia case explosives

The Thane police on Monday seized an incredible and shocking load comprising 12,000 explosive gelatin sticks and 3,008 detonators from the Karivali area in Bhiwandi near Mumbai. Following this, two people have been arrested - the owner of the company named Mittal Enterprises, Gurunath Mhatre, and his supplier from Sangamner, Amol Jondale. Both of them have been sent to police custody for further investigation into the matter.

However, what has now come to light on the basis of the remand copy accessed by Republic TV, is that among the gelatin sticks seized, products worth Rs 1,50,000 allegedly belonged to a company called Solar Industries India limited based out of Nagpur, whereas gelatin sticks worth Rs 7,500 have allegedly been procured from a company called Deccan Power. On the other hand, detonators worth Rs 45,120 have allegedly been manufactured by Solar AED Ultrasafe. 

Gelatin sticks at Antilia and cache recovered in Bhiwandi traced back to same company

When 20 gelatin sticks were found in a Scorpio car near Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilla in February, they were traced back to the same company from Nagpur named Solar Industries Limited.

The company had then confirmed that the sticks were from its stable, and had added that there is no system of tracking individual explosive cartridges.

However, senior officials from Thane police said that they are still investigating the case and they haven’t found the links of the Bhiwandi gelatin sticks case to any other case yet.

"The number of explosives recovered could have caused a blast that would affect the entire Thane if anything went wrong," said a senior official from Thane police.

Krishna Kokni of Thane crime branch unit 1, who led the operation on a tip-off from one of the members of the unit named Ananda Bhilare, said that Mhatre did not hold any legal documents to justify the possession of gelatin sticks. 

Thane police says it is yet to find any connection with Antilia bomb scare case; probe on

"Detonators and gelatin sticks cannot be kept together in one place, even if one of them gets attached, it can cause huge damage. In the case of Mhatre, primarily it looks like a case of negligence because he had stored the explosives in two garage-like rooms, which was a risk to his life and those staying around in the chawl as well. Mhatre was engaged in mining and quarrying work, and he has informed us that he used gelatin sticks and detonators for that. As of now, we haven’t found any connection," says Kokni. 

He added that the only reason that Mhatre has been arrested was that he did not have a license to procure or keep explosives. On the other hand, Jondale has the license for supplying explosives but will be questioned further to understand links in this case and to know how he supplied explosives to someone without a license.

However, when a senior official from Thane police was asked about gelatin sticks belonging to the same company as that found in the Antilia case, he said, "There is a monopoly of certain companies in this field, which is why the possibility arises. One may find the gelatin sticks of the same company in Manipur as well."

A case has been registered against both the accused at Bhoiwada police station in Bhiwandi under section 286 (Negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance) of the Indian Penal Code and section 5 (Punishment for making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances) of the Explosive Substance Act, 1908. 

Another officer from the crime branch said that the Bhiwandi case is parallelly being investigated by Anti-Terrorist Squad and Intelligence Bureau as well.

Antilia bomb scare

On February 25, a green Scorpio car laden with gelatin sticks was found by Mumbai Police outside Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia along with a threatening letter. Primary investigation from the CCTV had revealed that the car was parked near the residence a night prior. 

Later, on March 5, Mansukh Hiren, the owner of the car in question, was found dead at Kalwa creek and the police had claimed that he committed suicide by jumping into the stream. However, his wife alleged that he was murdered and mentioned that then Mumbai Police API Sachin Vaze who was, in fact, assigned the case, was using Hiren’s car since November. Following NIA's investigation, accused Mumbai Police cop Sachin Vaze, who is now lodged in Taloja jail, was first suspended and then dismissed from service. Vaze is the prime accused in the Antilia bomb scare probe and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren. This series of developments have caused the fallout and ouster of former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh and former Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh who are both now being investigated.