Mumbai: A ‘bomb’ was reportedly spotted near Gorai dumping ground in Borivli (W) on Monday morning by a school bus supervisor, who reported the incident to the police. A team from Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) was rushed to the spot, only to discover it was a toy. Police and citizens have been on high alert ever since two bomb scares were reported in the city, recently.
After Pulwama attack, security has been beefed in Mumbai and the suburbs. On Monday morning, as a school bus was on its way to pick up students, the bus supervisor, Trupti Shah, saw a a red-coloured object, lying on the road, which she thought, resembled a ‘bomb’, on a road near the Gorai dumping ground.
She immediately alerted the bus driver and they went to the spot to check. Since it looked like an explosive, she informed the school authorities, who then alerted the police control room, of the ‘bomb’ seen on the road. Gorai Police immediately sent a team to the spot, while the BDDS team were informed of this development.
At around 9.15am, when the BDDS team reached the spot, police barricaded the area and asked pedestrians and motorists to stay away from the spot. As soon as the BDDS team saw the bomb-like device, they realised it was a toy and declared it harmless. Despite brushing off the incident as a hoax, police sent the toy for forensic analysis.
Sangramsingh Nishandar, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 11) said, “It was a hoax call which spread panic across the neighbourhood. We have reported the incident in our diary, but no case has been registered. Police are checking the CCTV camera footage to find out who was responsible for leaving the explosive-like device on the road. We suspect it was left there to spread panic.”
Last week, two incidents were reported at Dahisar and Apta village in Raigad; in the latter case, a low-intensity explosive was found, while a low-intensity blast was heard on the Western Express Highway (WEH), a few metres from the Thakur Mall near Dahisar toll naka on the morning of February 20. The cause of the explosion has yet to be determined but the BDDS and forensic teams have collected samples to test the contents.
On that same night, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was found inside a State Transport (ST) bus at Apta bus depot in Raigad. The bomb was discovered in an ST bus by a conductor who was checking the vehicle at the depot before leaving for the day. The bomb was defused with the help of BDDS and Rasayani Police have registered a case against unidentified persons.
