Gaya, Nov. 12: Bags of a powdery substance weighing over 3,600kg have been unearthed in Gaya, prompting twice-shy police to investigate if the material was meant to make bombs.

Gaya, a “liberated zone” of Maoists, neighbours Jharkhand where elections will begin later this month. The seizure of the substance — Naxalite literature was also found at one of the sites — comes at a time security agencies are bracing for attempts by the Maoists to disrupt the elections.

The powder, packed in 73 bags, was found in two locations during raids by a joint team of Patna and Gaya police today. The material in each bag weighed about 50kg, the police said.

The raids, carried out around 6am, were part of what the police described as “routine security operations” before the Jharkhand elections.

The deputy inspector-general of Magadh, Anupama Nilekar, said the police were “proceeding on the premise that the seized items were explosives and further details would be available only after the receipt of lab reports”.

Officers are being cautious as at least on two previous occasions, laboratory reports had disproved the police’s claims. Suspected human skulls were eventually found to be that of animals and a “stash of RDX” turned out to be chemicals for firecrackers.

Gaya’s officiating superintendent of police, Saurav Kumar, today said experts had been engaged to identify the substance and establish if it had the potential to cause damage.