Bengaluru: Gang tries to palm off hoax nuclear material, 3 arrested

 A gang, which tried to dupe people by selling fake nuclear material, was busted with the arrest of its three members after they fell in a trap laid by the police who posed as buyers.

The trio claimed that they had illegally procured red mercury from the erstwhile Soviet Union by LTTE, but after the death of its leader Prabhakaran the material was brought to India by some ex-LTTE cadres, City Crime Branch (CCB) said. The CCB sleuths then laid a trap posing as buyers and as they went into negotiations, the culprits demanded Rs 150 crore for eight pound of red mercury, a substance of uncertain composition purportedly used in creation of nuclear bombs, as well as a variety of unrelated weapons systems.

The accused gave sample to buyers to verify for Rs 5 lakh, and also showed a presentation on their laptop with test/scan report of some US lab, it said, adding, the laptop has been seized. They presented the sample inside a cylindrical block of aluminium, saying it cannot be taken out "otherwise it will explode".

"@CCBBangalore Gangs come with outrageous ideas to cheat people!! Even more surprising is that they are able to found many willing victims!!" DCP Crime (Bengaluru) Abhishek Goyal tweeted. Police said CCB arrested the three accused on Thursday and and got the cylinder tested at Atomic Mineral Department which gave Nil radiation report. It was cut open and as suspected it was just a plain aluminium block, they added.