Maharashtra: Man informs about bomb, cops call him ‘alert citizen’

A bomb-like object was found floating in the river bed of Bhogavati in Pen taluka on Thursday evening by one Mitesh Patil who alerted the authorities, police said

A 22-year-old man from Pen taluka in Maharashtra’s Raigad district received praise from the police for being a ‘vigilant citizen’ after he alerted the authorities of a bomb-like object he saw floating in the river bed of Bhogavati.

After barricading the area, the object was scanned thoroughly and destroyed after finding that it was nothing but a dummy (Representative Image)

A bomb-like object was found floating in the river bed of Bhogavati in Pen taluka on Thursday evening by one Mitesh Patil who alerted the authorities, police said.

After receiving information, the Pen police and a team of Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed to the spot, Raigad SP Somanth Gharge said.

Gharge confirmed that the object was not a bomb, it just looked like one and had no explosives.

Praising Patil, Gharge said, “This is an example of an ‘alert citizen’. Citizens should be our eyes and ears when it comes to passing on important information. As a part of community policing, we keep encouraging citizens to be alert and report to us when they find something suspicious.”

According to Patil, on Thursday at around 5pm, he noticed a bomb-like object floating in the river below Pen flyover and informed the police.

“I immediately clicked a photo and sent it to the social worker of the area, Swaroop Ghosalkar. He informed the Pen inspector and I was called to the police station. There I told them what I saw and took them to the spot.”

After barricading the area, the object was scanned thoroughly and destroyed after finding that it was nothing but a dummy, police said.

“We are investigating further to find who had put such an object in the river,” said the SP.