The explosives, packed in wooden boxes, were hidden among haystacks in the lorry coming from Dharmapuri.
The lorry was taken to the Salem City Police firing ground located at Nagarmalai Foothills. (Representational picture)
In one of the biggest such seizures in Tamil Nadu, the Salem City Police seized 2.5 tonnes of explosives allegedly being transported to Coimbatore from Dharmapuri in the wee hours of Thursday, 30 November.
A lorry driver, identified as 32-year-old Ilayaraja, has been arrested, the police said.
According to sources South First reached out to, the Salem City Police Control Room received an alert from the State Intelligence to intensify vehicle patrol at the check posts on national highways.
The intelligence headquarters shared specific inputs with a few higher officials of Salem City Police regarding a paddy truck that was heading to Coimbatore from Dharmapuri.
The police intercepted a hay-laden lorry at the Karuppur toll gate near Salem around 2.30 am.
On searching the truck, the police team found many wooden boxes concealed under the paddy straw.
Police sources told South First that more than 30 kg of gelatin sticks were found in the boxes, which also contained electric detonators, and gunpowder. The barcodes on the boxes were found destroyed.
On the orders of senior police officers, the lorry and explosives were shifted to the Salem City Police firing ground at the foothills of Nagarmalai. Senior police officers, intelligence officers, forensic experts, and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad personnel have inspected the explosives.
Driver Ilayaraja reportedly told the police that he was hired to deliver the hay in Coimbatore.
When he went to pick up the lorry, it was already loaded, he claimed.
He was told that the lorry office in Dharmapuri would inform him of the exact destination over the phone after he reached Coimbatore.
Based on the driver’s statement, a police team was sent to Dharmapuri. Another team left for Krishnagiri, from where the explosives were sent to Dharmapuri en route to Coimbatore.
The driver has been remanded in custody. Senior police officers refused to comment on the seizure.
It may be recalled that a crude explosive had exploded in front of the Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil on Eswaran Kovil Street at Kottaimedu near Ukkadam on 23 October, 2022.
One of the accused, Jamesha Mubeen, was killed in the blast.
Senior police officers refused to comment on the seizure or provide more details.
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