Padgha blast: No terror angle but revenge after love affair went wrong, say police

Three arrested for ‘planting explosive in bottle to kill man’ on July 28.

THE ‘MYSTERIOUS’ blast at Padgha village in Thane on July 28, which caused alarm bells to go off in the security establishment, turned out to be a love affair gone wrong and had nothing to do with any terrorist activity.

The Thane rural police Monday arrested three youths, including two brothers, for allegedly planting an explosive in a bottle to kill a man who had asked one of them to stay away from a girl in Padgha village. In the blast at a residence on July 28, one woman was seriously injured.

Superintendent of Police (Thane rural) Mahesh Patil said they arrested three persons — Pramod Dalvi, Siddesh Dalvi and Roshan Shelar. The trio allegedly placed a bag containing the bottle — giftwrapped — on the two-wheeler of one Abhijit Gharat on July 26. “Gharat took the parcel inside his house, but kept it aside as a foul smell was coming from it,” said Patil. However, Gharat’s mother Rekha opened the bottle out of curiosity on July 28, triggering the explosion.

Explaining the motive behind the crime, police said Pramod was in love with a girl from their village who was also being courted by a friend of Gharat.

“Gharat and his friend had asked Pramod to stay away from her. This angered Pramod who along with his brother and friend plotted revenge,” said Patil.

“Siddesh, who had learnt how to make electric circuits as a student, assembled the explosive inside the bottle and attached a detonator and a switch. Roshan helped Siddesh in procuring the dynamite and other material,” said Shahapur division DYSP Vishal Thakur. The trio was charged under the IPC and the Explosives Act.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram