New Delhi, Dec. 30: The home ministry today asked investigators to look into the explosives contract between the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and a Secunderabad firm after searchers found only junk at the spot where the captain of a tramp ship said he had dumped deadly cargo.

Navy sources said a survey ship and two minesweeping vessels were scanning the seabed and about 40 divers were plunging depths of 25 to 30 metres about 20 nautical miles from Mumbai in the Arabian Sea where MV Eugenia was said to have run into choppy waters and dumped the containers that held 100 tonnes of explosives.

The explosives were contracted by the general manager of the BRO project in Afghanistan from Premier Explosives Ltd, which makes and exports industrial explosives. The BRO said it was responsible for the cargo only after delivery.

Home secretary V.K. Duggal and defence secretary Shekhar Dutt convened a meeting attended by officials of intelligence agencies, the Coast Guard and the navy. A multi-agency team was asked to carry out interrogations.

Home ministry sources said the team of investigators was in Secunderabad to look into the origin of the consignment that was transported by road to Mumbai and then booked by a shipping agent on MV Eugenia.

It was to be unloaded at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and then transported by road again to the BRO project site for the Zarang-Delaram road in southern Afghanistan.

The sources said the captain’s version of events did not tally with the circumstances and there was a question mark on why it took the ship so long to report that it was in trouble and longer still to get back to Mumbai.