Bomb scare outside mall sparks panic in Mumbai

A bomb-like object detected outside a popular shopping mall in suburban Andheri sparked panic today in the city, which has witnessed several terror attacks in the past.

However, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) concluded that the suspicious object found in a garbage dump outside the mall was a "dummy" article usually used in films.

Police said a person spotted the object with aluminium pipes wrapped in black and red cloth pieces along with electrical circuit in the garbage dump near Infinity Mall in Andheri's Adarsh Nagar, triggering suspicion that it could be a bomb.

Police reached the spot at around 11.30 AM and cordoned off the area before notifying the BDDS.

Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and city police crime branch also reached the spot and traffic movement was stopped in the area.

"The nearby areas were vacated and people were taken to safer places," Mumbai police spokesperson Nisar Tamboli told PTI.

The BDDS and dog squad rushed to the spot and examined the object, police said, adding that the team concluded it was not a bomb, three hours after it was spotted.

"It was a dummy article often used in the films to as a bomb. There are few film production houses in the area and somebody might have thrown the object in the dustbin. It was not an explosive," Deputy Commissioner of Police Pratap Digaokar said.

Apart from the audacious November 2008 attack, there have been a series of terror strikes targeting India's commercial capital in the past, including explosions in local trains in July 2006.

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