ISLAMABAD, MAY 11 (DNA) – The arrest of two persons with 7kgs of natural uranium by Maharashtra police has authenticated that Modi-led Indian regime is a threat to global security, particularly in the backdrop of the revelation that the duo had advertised the offered price of about Rs. 21 crores of highly radioactive uranium for online sale.

A report released by Kashmir Media Service, today, said that nuclear and defense experts are of the opinion that the seizure of 7 kg of uranium of extremely pure grade from two persons in Mumbai, India, is, enough to make a bomb.

The incident has raised questions about the safety of radioactive material in India. The experts pointed out that the lame-duck response has also exposed the double standards of the global community towards the safety of the fissile material in India and will equally be responsible if an untoward happens in future.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) owes an explanation over arrest of the persons with uranium in Mumai as the experts feared that Hindu terrorists can use this material for making nuclear bombs. They demanded that India’s nuclear programme should immediately be sealed unless country’s flawed mechanism about protection of uranium is thoroughly reviewed.

“This is the only way to protect the world from the growing threats stemming from uranium theft incident in India,” said a fissile material expert adding that since 1994, 11 cases pertaining to the seizure of high quality uranium has been reported in India.

The experts urged the UN Security Council to ask for an investigation into incidents of uranium theft in India as in the past even Indian politicians have been found involved in the smuggling of highly radioactive uranium.

About the offered price of about Rs. 21 crores of highly radioactive uranium by the two detained men, an article published in the News web portal Global Village Space wrote: “The ‘gentlemen’ had uncannily advertised the proposed sale online. As such, the authorities initially dismissed the advertisement as just another hoax. They routinely detained the “sellers-to-be” and forwarded a sample of their ware to the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. They were shocked when the center reported that the material was natural uranium.”

The article written by Amjed Jaaved goes on to add, “It is surmised that the sale of uranium by scrap dealers in India is common. But, such events rarely come in limelight.” According to Anil Kakodar, former chairman of the India’s Atomic Energy Commission,

“Factories using uranium as a counterweight in their machines are mandated to contact the Atomic Energy agencies and return uranium to them. They however resort to short cuts and sell the entire machine with uranium in scrap,” the web portal said. The portal ruled to “believe that radioactive material could be stolen from nuclear labs without operators’ connivance.”

“In different incidents, uranium in varying forms and quantities continues to be recovered from scrap dealers and others by Indian authorities. The recoveries include fifty-seven pounds of uranium in rod form, eight kilograms in granular form, two hundred grams in semi-processed form, besides twenty-five kilograms in radioactive form, stolen from the Bibi Cancer Hospital,” it added.

“Also, the thieves stole three cobalt switches, worth Rs. 1.5 million, from Tata Steel Company laboratory at Jamshedpur (Jharkhand). A shipment of beryllium (worth $24 million), was caught in Vilnius, on its way to North Korea.”

The same news portal praised Pakistan in these words: “Pakistan’s nuclear regulatory authority had taken necessary steps for the safety, security, and accountability of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, facilities, and materials even before the 9/11 incident.”

They maintained that Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that continues to keep Pakistan in its grey list in the name of far less serious charge like money laundering needs to put India in the black list to effectively monitor money trails of uranium transactions in India. = DNA

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