Abandoned bag triggers scare in Tardeo

An abandoned bag found on a footpath near Heera Panna shopping centre in Tardeo on Tuesday afternoon triggered panic. But it turned out to be a hoax. The police found some documents and an ATM card inside the bag.

An abandoned bag found on a footpath near Heera Panna shopping centre in Tardeo on Tuesday afternoon triggered panic. But it turned out to be a hoax. The police found some documents and an ATM card inside the bag.

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At 2pm, the police got a phone call about the bag.

The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) cordoned off the area outside Sony Mony Electronics store near the shopping centre. “The dog squad and the BDDS team searched the bag and found some documents and an ATM card,” said R. Gadade, senior inspector of the Tardeo police station.

The police suspect that a thief might have snatched the bag from a person and dumped it on the footpath after taking the cash. The police are now trying to trace the bag’s owner.

But for shoppers and locals the 20 minutes that the BDDS team took to check the bag were nerve wracking. “An abandoned bag is always scary especially when US President Barack Obama is about to come to the city,” said Ankit Avlani, a shopper.

On October 20, a bag had been found abandoned at Sterling cinema in Churchgate. The police had found a revolver and eight rounds belonging to a Jalgaon corporator inside the bag, which was stolen from outside Metro cinema.