The city became all jittery with two bomb threats within a span of a couple of hours on Thursday. Much to the relief of the people and the administration, both the alerts proved to be hoax.

The first case was reported between 11 am and 12 noon, when officers of R A K Marg police station received a call that a suspicious object was found at Sewree junction. A team from Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed to the spot where they found a wooden box with a round, black object, resembling a helmet, jutting out. After thorough inspection, it was revealed that the object was some sort of an instrument and not a bomb.

“We were told that there was a suspicious object lying in a closed wooden box and a BDDS team was rushed to the spot,” said Police Sub-Inspector H R Gaikwaad of R A K police station. “When the sniffer dog did not detetct anything, the BDDS team opened the box and saw that it was some sort of an instrument,” he added.

When DCP Sanjay Bhaviskar of Zone IV was contacted, he said, “It was a toy that a child probably left behind.”

The second case was reported when a parent of a student of Janki Devi School in Versova allegedly received a call that a bomb had been placed in the school. This sparked panic amongst parents who had come to take their wards home. The school authorities immediately alerted the Versova Police around 2 pm and a BDDS team was rushed to the spot. After combing the school for two hours, the threat was declared a hoax.

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