Five days after the blasts in Malegaon killed 30 people, the police have detained 20 suspects from a predominantly Hindu locality of the town.

“We have detained 20 people and are checking their antecedents and movements on the day of the blasts,” said Nashik Rural SP Rajyavardhan.

This is the second lot of detentions made in the Malegaon blast case. The Nanded police had earlier rounded up 40 people for questioning, 15 of whom are still under detention. In April, a blast in Nanded had killed two activists of the Bajrang Dal while they were allegedly manufacturing bombs.

Malegaon today witnessed another bomb scare outside the Mohammadiya Madrasa at the busy Kidwai Street. The box with wires sticking out was first spotted by a 12-year-old boy. Within minutes of arriving at the site, the police evacuated nearly 200 children studying in the madrasa and cordoned off the area.

It was later discovered that the box contained only mud, screws and wires. “It was plain and simple mischief by miscreants to create panic,” said IG (Nashik range) P K Jain.

However, tension was evident during the six hours of high drama as people came out on the streets shouting slogans against police. Residents also started an impromptu sit-in protesting against the administration’s failure to make headway in the blast case.

Checkpoints were set up today at entry and exit points of the town. “Instructions have been issued to check the entry and exit of all vehicles in the town . We have also increased surveillance in the perimeter of the town,” said Jain.

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