Delhi University staff to be questioned in radiation case

NEW DELHI - Delhi University’s department of chemistry staff will be questioned Thursday after the source of the radioactive material, which claimed one life and affected seven in a west Delhi scrap market, was traced to the department’s laboratory, police said.

Late Wednesday, police revealed that the radioactive gamma cell containing Cobalt 60 was auctioned by the Delhi University department two months ago.

“We, so far, only have the victim’s account that they bought the scrap from the department of chemistry, Delhi University, at an auction. We have had basic talks with the department’s people.

“We need to probe further and investigate if there was any committee formed to dispose the material and whether any regulatory procedures were flouted. We will begin questioning the staff today,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Sharad Aggarwal told IANS.

A fortnight ago, radiation leak was reported from the scrap market in Mayapuri area of west Delhi. Eight people, affected by radiation poisoning, were admitted to various hospitals, where one person died. Another person is still battling for life while others are said to be out of danger.

A team of radiation safety experts from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) Mumbai, the Narora Atomic Power Station (NAPS) and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) identified the radiation source at shop No. D2/32 in Mayapuri Phase-II.

The team located and recovered six sources of different intensity. The radioactive gamma cells were placed in a lead shielded flask. Two more such materials were recovered from scrap dealer Deepak Jain’s warehouse. Jain is still in a critical condition. Further searches led to recovery of two more radioactive materials from another dealer Giriraj Gupta’s shop.

The police officer said gamma cells were used for conducting experiments in analysing the effect of gamma rays on chemicals.