Nellore, April 20: A huge quantity of used bullets and cartridges of various weapons, stacked in 34 plastic bags, was found in the Gadhagunta canal at Menakuru in Naidupet on Tuesday.
Some workers found the bags containing used bullets and cartridges of AK-47, SLR, LMG, 9 mm pistol, revolvers and other weapons including those of foreign make and also iron rods and scrap material, in the dried-up canal.
Naidupet sub-inspector of police Rosaiah rushed to the spot and recovered the 34 bags from the canal after informing the matter to the higher officials.
DIG Harish Kumar Gupta, who is in the district to oversee the security arrangements for the PSLV launching, visited the canal along with superintendent E Damodar and other police officials and inspected the cache. Police suspect that the used bullets and cartridges were disposed of as scrap. Since they had already been used, they were not lethal, the officials said and added that they were sending the material to a laboratory for examination.
Gudur DSP Narayana Reddy ruled out any link between the recovered materials and the Maoists as there was no movement of the extremists in the area.
It is learnt that the scrap consignment was brought by the sea route into the district since it was not possible to bring it by road getting past the check post. It is suspected that the scrap was dumped into the canal after an iron manufacturing company had refused to buy it.
–Agencies