Madhyapara Hard Rock Company
8 devices used for detonating explosives stolen from store
At least eight electronic devices meant for detonating explosives have been stolen from the highly secured storehouse of Madhyapara Granite Mining Company Ltd (MGMCL) in Phulbari upazila under the district.
At around 11:30am yesterday, the officials and staff who went to the storehouse called 'Permanent Magazine House' found its locks broken and they informed Md Abdul Latif, security in charge of the mine.
Sources said that the warehouse
Located around two kilometres from the administrative building of MGMCL, the storehouse has three rooms to contain the highly powerful explosives that are used to break underground rocks for extraction.
There were 72,510 pieces of electric detonable copper cable, 5,287 pieces of non-electric detonators (8 to 17 metre in length), 9,835kg 25MM diameter explosives, 12,375kg of 50MM diameter explosives, 1,58,565 metres of detonator cord and 66,200kg of ammonium nitrate in the stock till Monday, said Rafiqul Islam, manager (Store) of MGMCL.
Shortly after the incident, MGMCL Managing Director Md Moinul Islam formed a three-member probe committee led by Mir Mohammad Abdul Hannan, general manager (Marketing) of MGMCL.
The committee, also comprising deputy general managers Md Asaduzzaman and Said Rafiqul Islam, was asked to count the items in the store and submit their report by 4:00pm yesterday.
By evening, they detected that at least eight electronic devices went missing from the store.
However, counting of the large amount of items, including explosives, was taking much longer time, Md Asaduzzaman told this correspondent yesterday evening.
The committee has also been asked to file a report on security arrangement of the mine area within two days.
Around 80 Ansar members perform duty under Md Abdul Latif, the security in charge, to ensure the safety of the mine and the surrounding area.
Md Moinul Islam, superintendent of police of Dinajpur, who visited the warehouse area yesterday afternoon, told this correspondent, "The warehouse is surrounded by a barbed wire and a mud wall. As the two-layer security measure has remained intact, it is clear that the incident took place with help of a section of mine officials and staff."
When contacted, Md Abdul Latif confirmed the incident of breaking of locks of the warehouse but he did not elaborate on the matter.
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