Police seized a large quantity of explosives — 16,000kg ammonium nitrate — from a truck at Mansuba More in Birbhum district on Monday night.

The truck that was coming from Hyderabad was laden with 320 bags, each weighing 50kg of explosives.

Acting on a tip-off, a large police team was deployed and as soon as the 16-wheeler truck reached, the law enforcers stopped it and raided the vehicle.

“We were surprised to see that the truck was carrying such a huge quantity of explosives. We also found that the batch numbers on the bags had been manually erased. Moreover, we found discrepancies in the tax invoice, challan and other documents,” said a police officer.

The police arrested three persons and seized the vehicle along with the explosives. Mansuba More where the truck was seized is under the jurisdiction of Rampurhat police station.

Sources said they suspected that the explosives were heading to Jharkhand and were supposed to be used in the illegal mining of coal and stone.

Amandeep, the superintendent of police, Birbhum, said: “Three persons were arrested in connection with the seizure of the huge quantity of explosives on Monday night. The truck was also seized. A probe has been initiated to find out the actual source and endpoint of the consignment.”

The sources have said the seizure of the explosives in the Rampurhat area is not new as it borders Jharkhand where illegal mining is rampant in abandoned coal mines and stone quarries.

Also, this part of Birbhum houses several stone quarries where the use of illegal explosives also became a regular practice, the sources said.

In 2022, the Birbhum police had seized 300 quintals of ammonium nitrate. It was found that the explosives were being sent to the neighbouring state where these were supposed to be used in the illegal mining of stone and coal.