The Rachakonda police in Telangana have arrested three persons for illegally possessing a huge quantity of gelatin sticks and detonators on Thursday.

The police said that they arrested three persons at a toll plaza under Bibinagar police limits near Hyderabad and seized two cars along with 1800 detonators and 1600 gelatin sticks.

The three arrested men have been identified as Putta Raju, Kotagiri Rajeshwar and Varikoppula Jagan. Two others were absconding, police said.

The arrests were made as three of the accused were on their way to a work site in Adibatla with the allegedly illegal explosives in their vehicles, from Alair. 

According to the police, the main accused Putta Raju is a habitual offender as he was engaged in supplying illegal explosive material for conducting illegal blasts.

Police alleged that the accused was acquainted with some licensed explosive dealers and offered them more price than the market rate, and managed to supply the explosives for illegal blasts.

The police said that the main accused was involved in as many as eight cases within the Rachakonda Police Commissionerate limits. Police said despite arrests in the past, he had not withdrawn himself from the "illegal trade" .

Five people have been booked under relevant sections of the Explosives Substances (Amendment) Act, 2001, and Explosives Act, 1884, and an investigation is underway.

The police said that the detonators and gelatin sticks were priced at Rs 1,600 per box of 200 pieces and 180 pieces respectively in the market.

The police added that the main accused Putta Raju and co-accused Rajeshwar purchased the same from Sri Laxmi Narasimha Enterprises, a licensed explosives shop, for Rs 3,000 per box of detonators and Rs 4,500 per box of gelatin sticks. In turn, they sold it to their customers for Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.

The operation was carried by the Special Operations Team (SOT) of Bhongir zone under the direct supervision of Commissioner of Police (CP) Mahesh Bhagawat and Additional CP Sudheer Babu.