KUALA LUMPUR: Investigations about a 23 kg radioactive Dispersal Device (RDD) that was missing from the back of a pick-up truck earlier this month are underway, says the top agent of the country.
Inspector General of the Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun confirmed that the two people who have been taken into pre-trial detention have been released.
"We still do not know for sure how the device went missing, there are accusations that it was accidentally lost because the trunk of the vehicle was open.
"However, there are no parties who found the device, so we need to do further research," he said after campaigning against Aedes on Monday (August 21).
When asked, the IGP said that the police had also been confronted with a similar incident last year. However, he has not disclosed any details.
An English daily reported that the RDD is an industrial radiographic device containing the radioactive isotope Iridium-192.
Iridium-192 emits beta and gamma radiation during the estimated half-life of 73 days.
It is taught that the device has a market value of approximately RM75,000.
The company that owned the RDD – weighing 23 kg, and consisted of a large metal tube with a handle on top – allegedly used it to detect cracks in metal as part of inspection protocols in the energy, power and transport.
It was lost while being transported to the company's office from Seremban.
The police initially arrested two technicians who had transported the device.
The duo loaded the device on the back of their pickup after completing their task and left for their office in Shah Alam at 2 o'clock in the morning.
The device was missing when they arrived an hour later. The duo claimed they did not stop during their return journey and feared it had fallen off their truck.
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