IRITTY: 150 rounds of country-made gunpowder were seized from a private bus during a vehicle inspection at the Koottupuzha excise checkpost. The explosives were found hidden in a bag of a private bus that arrived via Virajpet. The inspection was conducted by a team led by Excise Inspector V. R. Rajeev.

The bus, along with the seized gunpowder, was transferred to the police for investigation. The police have taken a person from Ulikkal Kalanki into custody. Due to the widespread smuggling of drugs from Karnataka, excise officials were keeping an eye on vehicles coming through the Koottupuzha excise checkpoint.

The bag, which no one claimed ownership of, was found during an inspection conducted by the excise team at around 3.45 pm on Thursday in a private bus going from Kutta in Coorg to Kannur via the Virajpet – Koottupuzha route. When inspected, the ammunition was found wrapped in three cases inside the bag.

As per the information, the police team arrived on the instructions of Iritty DYSP Dhananjaya Babu. The bus, including the passengers, was shifted to Iritty station. The contraband seized by the excise team was also handed over to the police.

At around 6 pm, the dog squad led by M.C. Bineesh arrived and took the suspect, a native of Kalangi, Ulikkal, into custody.