The mortars are active and rusty.
s many as 60 active mortars have been seized from an junk iron seller named Dafir in Cipondoh, Tangerang, Banten, a police officer has said.
“We found 57 mortars that were 30 centimeters long and 9 cm in diameter. Also there were three small mortars that are 21 cm long and 6 cm in diameter,” Tangerang Police crime unit chief, Adj. Sr. Comr. Deddy Supriady, said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.
“The mortars are active and rusty,” he added.
According to Dafir, he bought the mortars from two unknown men who offered them to him on Tuesday.
He said the two unidentified men were traveling in a black van. According to Dafir, the two men wore black construction worker suits. They said they found the mortars when they were excavating for a road project in Citra Raya.
Dafir bought the mortars for Rp 4,600 per kilogram (31 US cents). In total he bought 220 kg in four sacks.
Cipondoh Police chief Comr. Sutrisno, said Dafir did not know the mortars were active.
“He is just a used iron seller. He thought the mortars were just old bullets,” he said.
After buying the mortars, Dafir informed the local police, as he had become suspicious. After the officers inspected the mortars, they concluded they were active and dangerous.
A Gegana bomb squad seized the mortars on Tuesday night.
“Dafir was not arrested of course,” Sutrisno said. (gis)
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