Chennai: Security agencies have seized another Pakistan-bound consignment consisting of internationally banned chemicals used for tear gas and riot control agents from China at a port in Tamil Nadu, officials said on Thursday.

According to officials, Pakistan is allegedly working on an offensive chemical and biological warfare program with the help of its "all-weather friend" China. The officials stated that the Chinese firm Chengdu Shichen Trading Co. Ltd had shipped a consignment of "Ortho-Chloro Benzylidene Malononitrile" to Rohail Enterprises, a Rawalpindi-based defense supplier. The consignment, weighing about 2560 kilograms, was stored in 103 drums of 25 kilograms each and loaded onto a carrier vessel, Hyundai Shanghai (sailing under the Cyprus flag), on April 18, 2024, at Shanghai Port, China.

The Karachi-bound vessel reached Kattupalli Port in Tamil Nadu on May 8, 2024. Customs authorities, during a routine check, detained the consignment as the chemical's name appeared on India's export control list 'SCOMET' as a controlled substance, officials said. After seeking assistance from experts and investigating the chemical, it was found to be Ortho-Chloro Benzylidene Malononitrile (CS), a listed substance under the Wassenaar Arrangement.

While India is a signatory to the Wassenaar Arrangement, China and Pakistan are not. Subsequently, the chemical consignment was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962, and the Weapons of Mass Destruction and Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) Act, 2005.

In March, security agencies at Mumbai's Nhava Sheva port intercepted and seized a consignment from a Karachi-bound ship from China after it was found carrying a dual-use consignment linked to Pakistan's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

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