Meerut: Lead plates, which were meant to be used in nuclear reactors and were worth Rs 20 lakh, were stolen from a truck at Transport Nagar locality in Meerut. The consignment was en route to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Police have detained the truck's driver and are interrogating him to get leads in the case.The consigment’s owner, Shashank Jain, managing director of Saru Smelting (P) Ltd, said, “We are regular suppliers of these slabs to the atomic power stations. They are used in the nuclear reactor for shielding purposes.”Lead shielding refers to the use of lead as a form of radiation protection to shield people or objects from radiation. Lead can effectively attenuate certain kinds of radiation because of its high density and high atomic number.According to experts, the slabs can be used for shielding in x-ray machines, nuclear power plants, labs, military equipment, and other places where radiation may be encountered.Local police, however, has been treating this as a case of normal theft.Brijesh Sharma, station officer at Transport Nagar police station, said, “Vijay Pal, driver of the truck, had started for BARC with the consignment on Friday evening. He parked the truck outside his home on Meerut-Delhi road, just 7 km from the city. In the morning, the truck was not there. When questioned, Vijay Pal said that he wanted to spend the night at home and would have continued his long journey on Saturday morning. Prima facie, it seems to be a normal theft case. The price of the consignment was close to Rs 20 lakh.”Even Vijay Pal was unaware of the nature of his consignment. “He said that there were some aluminium slabs in the truck. However, it was only the owner of the consignment who told us about lead slabs,” the SO added.Meanwhile, an FIR has been filed in the case and Vijay Pal has been detained for further questioning.

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