The Mumbai Police on Friday took into custody a 50-year-old man from Noida, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly sending a WhatsApp message threatening serial bomb blasts across the city on Anant Chaturdashi, being observed this Saturday, September 6.
The accused, identified as Ashwin Kumar Supra, originally hails from Bihar, and has been living in Noida for the past five years. He was being transferred to Mumbai for further investigation, police said.
Acting on a request from Mumbai Police, Noida police chief Laxmi Singh formed special teams to track him down. Ashwini, who resided in the Sector 113 police station area, was caught by the SWAT team and handed over to Mumbai Police. His mobile phone and SIM card used to send the threat have been seized.
The threat, sent to the official WhatsApp number of the Mumbai Traffic Police, claimed that “human bombs” had been planted in 34 vehicles and that the city would be “shaken” by explosions.
The sender identified themselves as “Lashkar-e-Jihadi” and alleged that 14 Pakistani persons had entered India, according to police. The threat also claimed that 400 kg of RDX would be detonated, potentially killing “one crore people”.
A senior officer said the threat appeared to be a hoax, but the city was placed on high alert nonetheless.
