August 18, 2024 06:02 AM IST
The mall was immediately evacuated and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials, Fire Brigade personnel, and police conducted a search with a dog squad, the official said, adding that a bomb or suspicious item was not found.
Navi Mumbai: The Inorbit Mall, which draws enormous crowds on the weekends, was evacuated by police officials on Saturday afternoon after panic prevailed over a bomb being planted in the premises, which turned out to be a hoax as no suspicious object was found during the search, according to the police.
The prominent mall in the Vashi’s sector 1 area, a prime location, received an email at 9.27 am from an id ‘hiddenbones101@gmail.com’ that read, “Hello there, I planted bombs in the building every person inside the building will be killed (sic),” an official from the Vashi police station said. By noon, the mall administration informed the Vashi police about the threatening email.
The mall was immediately evacuated and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials, Fire Brigade personnel, and police conducted a search with a dog squad, the official said, adding that a bomb or suspicious item was not found. .
“The search was called off at around 2:50 pm after a thorough check for more than two-and-a-half-hour, following which the mall was reopened for people at around 3 pm,” the official said.
Investigators told HT that the bomb threat email was sent to 26 prominent malls across the country and one of the recipients was the Inorbit Mall in Vashi.
“The threatening mail further mentioned that – ‘none will escape, you deserve death. I planted the bombs in the building because I hate my life.’ The message ends with the mailer attributing the attack to – Paige and Nora,” said an official.
“The mailer has addressed the mail to numerous other malls across the country and investigations are underway to ascertain the sender. There were no bombs found and the mall operations resumed by afternoon,” said the senior inspector Vashi, Manik Nalawade. “Only after it was assured that there were no explosives was the search concluded and the mall was reopened for the visitors,” said deputy commissioner of police Pankaj Dahane.
