Navoiy resident sentenced for making explosives to blast gold mine

The Khatirchi District Criminal Court has issued a verdict regarding the individual who manufactured the explosives. Kun.uz has reviewed the court documents.

According to the ruling, on January 14, 2025, officers from the Khatirchi District Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) and the State Security Service (SSS) carried out a special search operation. During the operation, they found that a resident of Bakhshizhar mahalla, 44-year-old Sh.N., had been keeping three homemade explosive devices in a chest at his home.

Investigations revealed that Sh.N. had made the devices in March 2024 after watching online videos. According to a January 20, 2025, expert conclusion by the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Forensic Expertise Center, the items were identified as “electrically triggered explosive devices.”

In court, Sh.N. explained that he had made the explosives intending to blast rocks while searching for gold.

“In March 2024, I would go to a deserted area near the village of Oltinsoy where there was an old mine, hoping to dig out rocks that might contain gold particles. But extracting the stones was extremely difficult. I had heard that explosives are sometimes used to break rocks in mining,” he stated during testimony.

“Later, I found instructions online on how to make explosives at home. Using leftover gunpowder I had at home, agricultural fertilizer, and three electrical cables, I assembled the devices with tape. But I never used them, as I didn’t return to the mine afterward. I left for Tashkent and started working in construction. I stored the devices in a chest at home,” the man explained.

Sh.N. also stated that no one helped him in making the devices and pleaded with the court for leniency.

According to the Khatirchi District Criminal Court’s verdict issued on April 9, 2025, Sh.N. was found guilty under Article 248, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (illegal possession, storage, or manufacture of firearms, ammunition, explosive substances, or explosive devices). He was sentenced to two years of restricted freedom.