Mumbai police have gone on high alert after the city’s traffic control room received a threatening message via WhatsApp. According to the message, 34 vehicles across the city have been rigged with “human bombs” carrying nearly 400 kg of RDX. The sender warned that the explosions could claim the lives of “1 crore people.”. The threat has come at a time when preparations are underway for Anant Chaturdashi and Ganesh Visarjan in Mumbai and many cities of Maharashtra.
What was said in the threat?
According to police officials, this message was received late Friday night. In this, the sender described himself as associated with the “Lashkar-e-Jihadi” organization. It was written in the message that 14 Pakistani terrorists have entered India and they are planning a large-scale attack.
However, the message does not name any specific place. The police cyber team is tracking the number from which this message was sent.
ATS and intelligence agencies on alert
Taking the threat seriously, the Mumbai Police immediately alerted the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and other intelligence agencies.
A senior officer said—
Security for Anant Chaturdashi and Ganesh Visarjan
The 10-day long Ganeshotsav in Mumbai will end on Saturday. Ganesh idols are immersed on the day of Anant Chaturdashi. Lakhs of people come out on the streets and immerse Ganpati on the seashore or lakes.
More than 21,000 policemen have been deployed for security.
These include 12 additional police commissioners, 40 DCPs, 61 ACPs, 3,000 officers and 18,000 jawans.
For the first time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used for crowd and traffic control.
Fake threats increased in recent times
In recent months, the police in Mumbai and Thane have received bomb threat calls and messages several times, which later turned out to be fake.
Recently, there was a threat to blow up Thane’s Kalwa station. Investigation revealed that the person calling was drunk.
In July, there was a threat of a bomb blast at Mumbai airport. After hours of search operation, that too turned out to be false.
According to officials, even though many threats are given as a joke or in an intoxicated state, the police have to take action with full seriousness every time.
Police appeal
Mumbai Police has appealed to the people not to believe any rumors and immediately inform the police about any suspicious activity. An official said—
“Celebrate the festival with peace and brotherhood. Our security agencies are fully prepared.”
