Man injured while making country-made bomb near Coimbatore, accomplice held 

Man injured making country-made bombs used for poaching in Coimbatore; police arrest accomplice and confirm production of explosives in the district.

The recent incident in which a man suffered an injury on his hand while making country-made bombs, locally known as avittukai that poachers use to hunt wild animals, has affirmed the production of the crude explosive in Coimbatore district.

U. Rangasamy (33) of Karadimadai near Perur suffered an injury while making the explosive on January 26. While Rangasamy was admitted to a hospital, the police arrested his friend and accomplice C. Maran (51).

The Perur police registered a case against the duo under the Explosive Substances Act and arrested Maran based on a complaint lodged by forest guard T. Soundarya on Friday evening. The police said Rangasamy would be arrested after he recovered from the injury.

Nature enthusiasts from Coimbatore said the incident had affirmed the making of the crude explosive in the district as against the claims by the Forest Department. The Department had also been claiming that elephants that were spotted with injured mouths, after biting into avittukai, were from Kerala side, they said.

During the investigation, it was found that Rangasamy and Maran were hunting wild animals by placing the crude explosive on lands bordering forest boundaries.

The Forest Department had arrested Rangasamy on charges of possessing country-made bombs and wild boar meat in 2021. In 2022, the Department seized four such bombs from Rangasamy’s house in a surprise raid and he was at large. He was arrested by the police three months ago. However, the man continued to make the explosive after he came out of prison on conditional bail a fortnight ago, said the police.

A Forest official said making of avittukai itself was dangerous as it could explode due to pressure. To reduce the injury, persons who make the explosive stood behind a huge tree, like a coconut palm, and bould small packs filled with explosive mixture with threads. If the explosive went off due pressure, the injury would be restricted to hands.