A stock of more than 800 kilograms of explosives illegally imported to the country was recovered from a warehouse in Negombo yesterday.
That was on the basis of a tip-off received by the Negombo Division Law-enforcement Unit.
The warehouse owner was also arrested in connection with the incident.
On questioning him it was revealed that he had a permit for having a storeroom of explosives used for manufacturing crackers at Imbulgaswadiya in Katana.
However police say that he has no permission to have a storeroom in Negombo using the permit.
Similarly the attention of investigating sources has been drawn on the existence of Defence Ministry unapproved explosive Potassium Perchlorate in the warehouse.