MUMBAI, JAN 29: A ten-year-old boy was injured in a blast near the Vidya Mandir Mandal school in Andheri on Saturday. The police, however, have not been able to ascertain the nature of the explosive yet.The victim, Zuber Gani Patel, his brother Tabrez and a friend Deepak were playing in the school at around 8:15 am when the mishap occurred. The school premises, where a wedding was hosted the previous night, was strewn with some firecrackers, apparently remnants of the earlier celebrations.The boys found some tube and ball shaped objects, mistook them for fireworks and threw them around setting off minor blasts, according to R D Shinde, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), D N Nagar division. Zuber suffered nine per cent on his face and arms. He was admitted in the Cooper Hospital at Andheri (west) and subsequently released after treatment.Yet, Zuber's younger brother Tabrez was found to have carried one of the dubious objects home. His terrified mother immediately alerted the D N Nagar policestation. A bomb squad and a chemical analysis team arrived to investigate but found no shrapnel or injurious material in the suspicious object, which has been sent to the labs for further investigation.While not ruling out that the objects could be bombs, the police say they resembled firecrackers. ``We have confirmed from a fireworks dealer that there are some firecrackers, packed in plastic balls or cylindrical tubes, known as `flaming explosive balls','' said a policeman.On January 28 an elderly pujari was injured when a crude handmade bomb, which he had picked up from a local train at Churchgate station, went off in his hands. The explosive was packed inside a plastic bag and contained a clock. The bomb exploded when the person was near Bombay Hospital.Police has been on alert following the intelligence reports of possible terrorists attacks during Republic Day functions.
