Tiruchy: In a stunning turn to a controversy over alleged pilfering of Army blanket rocket shells, local police with help of a special team of the bomb detection and disposal squad recovered 26 numbers of blank rocket shells near the rocket launcher pad at the military shooting range at Veeralimalai, a village near Pothamettupatti near here, on Saturday.

Police sources told DC on Sunday that the recovered blank rocket shells were now kept at the Tiruchy military camp and they would be safely disposed off after a detailed enquiry.

It might be recalled an explosion took place at a old iron scrap shop at Pothamettupatti village near Manaaparai on June 29 in which a 50-year-old AIADMK functionary was tragically killed on the spot and three others seriously injured as one of the shells ‘exploded’.

Police said the deceased Mariappan working as an employee of the scrap shop attempted to break a blank rocket shell which suddenly exploded and killed him on the spot.

The injured included Arulandham (45) shop owner, and his friend Kanagaraj (45) Balasubramanian (25), an adjacent shop employee, who are now undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

While the condition of Kanagaraj and Balasubramanian seems to be slightly improving, the condition of Arulanandham is critical, police said. The latter is believed to have slipped into a coma.

Police said the people residing in and around Veeralimalai area apprehended that there may at least 100 blank rocket shells atop the hills and at near the foothills. A search was launched to clear the people’s doubts when cops stumbled on the blank rocket shells.