Shillong, June 9 (IANS): Two women have been arrested in Meghalaya on suspicion of uranium smuggling, police said on Tuesday.
The duo -- Jobila Marak and Evalila Sangma -- were arrested in Jengjal area in West Garo Hills district on Monday, police said.
They were arrested by Meghalaya Police on the basis of information given by two people arrested earlier last week in Assam's Mankachar town with a packet suspected to contain uranium. Booked under the Arms Act and the Explosives Act, the two women will be handed over to Assam Police for questioning, police said.
Last week, Mankachar police in Assam's Dhubri district arrested two men - Sanjeev Marak and Trolik Marak - with a packet bearing a seal of the Department of Atomic Energy. A pistol was also recovered from them. The packet has been sent to the forensic science laboratory for analysis, Dhubri Superintendent of Police Deepak Choudhury said.
"We cannot say for sure now what it contains, but we apprehend that it contains some kind of explosives," Choudhury told IANS over phone.
The Mankachar-West Garo Hills district is a sensitive sector due to its proximity to Bangladesh. This corridor is used by militants to infiltrate into India and also enter Bangladesh.
Dhubri district's border with Bangladesh is manned by the police together with the help of the Border Security Force, barring the riverine border, the police official said.
