NIA takes over uranium recovery case

New Delhi, May 9

The NIA has taken over the investigation into the case relating to the recovery of 7.1 kg “natural uranium” worth Rs 21.30 crore in Mumbai by the state police on May 5.

The agency took over the case on Saturday from the Mumbai Police following an order by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). It re-registered the case under Section 24(1)(a) of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962. Initially, an FIR was lodged by the Mumbai Police at its Kalachowki station on May 5.

“The case relates to the seizure of 7.1 kg of ‘natural uranium’ worth Rs 21.30 crore from accused Jigar Jayesh Pandya and Abu Tahir Afzal Choudhary,” a spokesperson for the NIA said. NIA agency sleuths had, on Thursday, collected a copy of the FIR and other information about the seizure from the Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, which had arrested Pandya and Choudhary and seized the uranium from them on May 5.

Thane resident Panday, 27, and scrap dealer Choudhary, 31, were produced before a special court, which granted the NIA their custody for 12 days. — TNS