#BreakingNews: 161 Explosive Sticks Recovered Outside Uttarakhand School; Massive Probe Launched

Police in Uttarakhand’s Almora district seized 161 highly explosive gelatin sticks, collectively weighing more than 20 kilograms, from dense bushes situated barely 50 metres from the boundary wall of Government Higher Secondary School in Dabara village, Sult area, on Friday morning. The location, directly adjacent to the school playground, could have turned the campus into a disaster zone had the material been ignited.

The discovery was made by the school’s principal, Subhash Singh, who noticed several suspicious plastic-wrapped packets partially concealed in the undergrowth while conducting his routine morning inspection. Recognizing the grave threat to students and staff, he immediately alerted the Sult police station, prompting an urgent response that likely averted a potential tragedy.

Within minutes, two armed police teams arrived, evacuated classrooms closest to the site, and imposed a complete security lockdown around the school. Specialist bomb disposal personnel from Udham Singh Nagar district and a trained explosive-detection dog squad from Nainital were summoned. The canine unit systematically swept the area and marked additional hidden packets approximately 20 feet away. After thorough documentation, the bomb squad neutralized immediate risks, packed the gelatin sticks in protective containers, and transported them to a secure magazine for forensic examination.

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Senior Superintendent of Police Devendra Pincha briefed the media at the spot, confirming that four specialized investigation teams involving local police, the Special Operations Group, and intelligence units have been constituted to trace the supply chain and determine the motive. A case has been registered against unidentified individuals under Section 4(a) of the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and Section 288 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The incident has intensified national security concerns, coming just days after the recovery of nearly 3,000 kg of explosives in Haryana and amid heightened alerts following the recent Delhi blast. Security agencies are now actively investigating whether the Almora seizure is connected to terror modules reportedly planning coordinated attacks across multiple states during the ongoing festive season.

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