Mumbai: 'Mentally Disoriented' Elderly Man Arrested For Making Hoax Call On Terrorists Entering Dongri

Mumbai, February 17: A 70-year-old man has been arrested by the Dongri police who allegedly made a hoax call on Thursday morning to the Mumbai Police’s main control room.

After registering a FIR against an unidentified person, police shortly began investigating the case. As per preliminary investigation, the call was made from a public call office (PCO). The caller said a few terrorists (men and women) had entered the Durga area with rifles, hence he demanded police assistance. As per standard operating procedure, police were deployed at the spot along with a bomb squad and sniffer dog teams but nothing suspicious was found, determining the call as a hoax.

Here's How The Investigation Proceeded:

During the investigation, police found the PCO booth from which the call was made – located at Samant Bhai Nanji Marg in the Dongri area, next to Shafi Masjid. According to the booth manager, an elderly man made the call at the given time. All the cops got to know was that the caller was a senior citizen who had a leg injury.

Police started to look for CCTV cameras and found the suspect. His image was circulated amongst informants who informed the police that the man lived in Vikhroli’s Tagore Nagar.

Accused Arrested From Vikhroli:

According to Sadanand Mane, senior police inspector of Dongri, a team was sent to Vikhroli from where the accused was arrested. He is identified as Bhagwan Bhapkar alias Nazrul Sheikh. Bhapkar was presented in court on Friday but he was left on personal bond due to his age and ailing health. Mane also added that the accused seemed to be mentally disoriented and had no evil motive behind the hoax phone call.

Bhapkar has been charged under sections 505(2) (spreading false rumours), 505(1)(B) (circulating any false statement or rumour), 177 (furnishing false information), 182 (providing false information with the intent to cause a public servant to use lawful power to the injury of another person), and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code.