Bihar police arrested three persons in Gopalganj district and seized a consignment of suspected radioactive material californium from them on Friday.

The department of atomic energy has been informed about the seizure.

The operation was conducted on the basis of intelligence inputs and the suspicious movement of a group of people near the Balthari checkpost under the Kuchaikot police station area.

“Officials from the district intelligence unit, special operations group, special task force, and Kuchaikot police station were involved in nabbing three persons carrying 50 grams of suspected californium,” Gopalganj SP Swarn Prabhat told The Telegraph.

The arrested persons have been identified as Chhotelal Prasad of Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, Chandan Gupta and Chandan Ram of Gopalganj. Four mobile phones and a motorcycle were also seized from them.

“The arrested persons had procured the suspected radioactive material from Gujarat and were trying to sell it. We have called a FSL team to verify it. We have also informed the DAE,” Prabhat added.

Californium is a synthetic radioactive chemical element developed by scientists at the California University in 1950. It has various isotopes, some of which are intense neutron emitters. It is used in metal detectors, underground oil and water exploration, and identifying metal stress in aircraft. It is used as a startup neutron source in nuclear reactors.