Yet another hoax or a dry run?

Tension mounted on busy Mangaldas Road on Sunday morning after a contraption of red-coloured plastic pipes assembled together with some wires and a timer-like object was found on a compound wall along the road near upmarket Koregaon Park area.

However, soon it was a big relief as the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) ruled it out as a hoax. After getting a call, the BDDS personnel rushed to the spot and checked the object thoroughly, and finally the call was treated as hoax by the bomb experts.

In spite of this, the police have taken a serious cognisance of the incident and have given instructions to the crime branch to investigate the matter further.

Additional commissioner of police (South region) Chandrashekhar Daithankar said, “The police control room got a call from a passer-by around 7.55 am after he spotted a bomb-like object on Mangaldas Road. Immediately, we sent a team of BDDS personnel and senior police officials to the spot and banned entry of vehicles from both sides of the road.” He said that after checking the object for almost 30 minutes, the bomb squad ruled out the possibility of explosives.

“There were six red-coloured pipes, two wires and it was attached to the a timer-like object, but it did not contain any explosives, detonator or splinters, which make a bomb,” said Daithankar.
He added that the object was not hidden and was kept on the wall in a way so that anyone can notice it.

After the serial low-intensity bomb blasts on JM Road on August 1, the Pune police had put up pictures of the scene in various parts of the city to create awareness among the people. Deputy commissioner of police, Ramnath Pokle said, “It seems that somebody made a replica of the bomb from the posters put up by the police to create awareness.”

Police inspector Shivaji Kamble of Koregaon Park police station said that after the incident, the police team, along with the BDDS and dog squad, checked all big hotels and commercial establishments.

“We have started investigations into the matter and will register an offence against an unknown person under the relevant sections,” said Kamble.

Calling The Bomb Bluff

1. A dummy bomb was found on a compound wall along Mangaldas Road on Sunday morning. The BDDS personnel shifted the bomb into the open in order to defuse it.

2 A bomb squad personnel scans the bomb

3 A cable is attached to the wires of the circuit so that it can be defused from a distance without injuring anybody

4 A BDDS personnel tries to separate the wires that were entangled with the circuit

5 The wires are successfully detached from the circuit with the help of the cable while one of the BDDS personnel picks up the bomb after ensuring that it is harmless

6 Bomb squad personnel heave a sigh of relief after they determine that the bomb is a dummy

Photos by: Aniruddha Rajandekar DNA