Mumbai: Thane police have seized 8.861 kilogram of depleted Uranium from two men who were allegedly going to sell it. A senior police official said that the uranium was in brick form and had 0.7 percent of radioactive U-235 in it.
"Although the percentage brings it close to depleted uranium, which we found after getting it tested, we suspect that there is a possibility that it could have been enriched and could have been used in a hazardous manner,” said the officer.
He further added that technically if the chemical in any form contains less than 0.5 percent of U-235, then it is declared as depleted Uranium.
While speaking to CNN-NEWS 18, the officer said, "If the seized Uranium, which was in brick form, was vaporized it would have been fatal and could have caused considerable amount of damage. We got a tip off that some men were willing to sell the potentially dangerous chemical. Investigation is on to find who were the buyers."
Police said that they are not ruling out the possibility of using the chemical for nuclear weapon or chemical bomb, investigation is on to find out more. The chemical could also be used for making silver bullets or armour piercing bullets.
Another senior official of Thane police, on the condition of anonymity, said that the entire consignment was to be exchanged in the black market and an inquiry is underway to find out who were interested in buying it.
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