The Navi Mumbai police have destroyed the equipment in a red metal box found on a handcart outside Sudhagad school in Kalamboli on Monday afternoon. The police used remote-controlled detonators as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) as they could not conclude whether any explosives were used in the improvised explosive device (IED)-lookalike. The metal box had a few wires, a 12-volt battery, and an analog clock attached to it. A petrol can was also found near the device.
The police have asked Navi Mumbai residents to stay alert and not touch any abandoned bag as this could be a dry run by antisocial elements. “In this case, the watchman and other people who had seen the device first, had fiddled with it, pulling off some wires. If it had been an explosive, there would have been a blast. We want people to be alert about such things, not touch them and inform us,” said Sanjay Kumar, Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner.
The police had used a water jet disrupter and X-ray machine to find if there were any explosives in the cement block found in the red metal box. “We sent a concentrated amount of water along with the bullet, which can be operated by remote. We fired one round that embedded around 3 inches from two sides and found nothing. The X-ray machine could not detect anything due to the huge concentration of cement. After a discussion with officers, we decided to follow the SOP and blast it. Doing more tests would have meant putting many people at risk. After the blast, the residuals found from the site were sent for forensic tests. The total weight of the cement block along with the steel box in which it was kept was around 59 kg and the metal sheets, which formed the box, weighed close to 1.9 kg. We have recorded the volume, weight and all other values,” Mr. Kumar said.
Arun Vishwakarma, the watchman of the school, said he noticed the box and handcart on Monday morning and was waiting for someone to take it away. “Till afternoon, no one took it and hence, some other staff of the school and I opened it. We informed the police and pushed the cart to the police station.” As per the CCTV footage, the handcart was parked outside the school around 9 p.m. on Sunday. The Crime Branch, local police and an anti-terrorism squad team are investigating the case and have claimed to have traced a few suspects. The ATS chief, along with the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner, had visited the spot outside the school where the device was found, and the ground at Khidukpada in Kalamboli where the police destroyed it around 12.30 a.m. on Tuesday. The Kalamboli police registered an FIR against an unidentified man under the Indian Penal Code for ‘mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage and negligent conduct with combustible matter’ along with sections of the Explosives Substances Act.
