Bomb explodes while being taken for ‘trial’,2 held

A special team of Additional Commissioner of police Vishwas Nangre-Patil,including police inspector Prakash Patil,assistant police inspector Nitin Patil and Manish Awde investigated the incident.

The police said the suspect,Santosh Shetty,was in love with one of his classmates. However,the girl’s parents were against the relationship and had fixed her marriage to someone else. Shetty,who wanted to kill the girl’s father,planned to plant a bomb beneath his car,parked at their garage in Kurla.

Patil said Shetty had,on Thursday,sought the help of his friend polio-afflicted Sanjay Salvi,30. The duo purchased a remote-controlled toy helicopter and used its circuit to make an improvised explosive device.

“The bomb was manufactured from crackers and screws were used as splinters in it,” added Patil.

The suspects had planned to place the explosive device under the petrol tank of the car belonging to the girl’s family.

The police said the duo were taking the bomb for a trial at an open ground in Kalina when it exploded. While Salvi was carrying the bomb on his wheelchair,Shetty followed him on his motorbike. “While the duo were transporting it,the bomb exploded as Salvi pressed the joystick early,” said Patil. Shetty himself rushed Salvi to the nearby civic hospital,but tried to mislead the police by making up false stories. However,the police got suspicious after finding pieces of the bomb scattered at the spot.

“Though Shetty,who once owned a bar in Ghatkopar,did not budge during the initial police interrogation,he confessed on Friday,leading to his arrest,” Patil said. The duo has been charged with attempt to murder under the sections of Indian Penal Code and also Explosives Act.