Anti-nuclear stir leader booked after bomb explosion

SP Uthayakumar, coordinator of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy(PMANE), his associates Pushparayan, Mukilan and some others have been booked under different sections of IPC and Explosive Substances Act, top police sources said. Cases were registered for offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal conspiracy among others, they added. Two live bombs were also recovered from the explosion site even as police formed a special team to probe the incident and stepped up security in and around the controversy-ridden Indo-Russian joint venture whose first unit started generating power last month.

‘Two live bombs had been recovered from the site, which have been sent for forensic tests,’ Tirunelvei SP Vijendra Bidari said.

A Department of Atomic Energy(DAE) official said the plant is running fine and is safe.
Uthayakumar denied any role in the explosion.

‘The people of Idinthakarai or members of (anti-nuclear) struggle committee have nothing to do with this explosion. We will cooperate with police and other government officials,’ he said.