VISUALLY IMPAIRED MAN MADE HOAX BOMB THREAT TO CELEBRITIES TO SEE HOW POLICE REACT

MUMBAI : A 20-year-old visually impaired man from Lonikhand in Pune has been detained for allegedly making a hoax call about bombs purportedly planted near the bungalows of superstar Amitabh Bachchan, veteran actor Dharmendra and industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antilia, according to the crime intelligence unit (CIU) of the Mumbai police crime branch.

The man, who suffers from near-sightedness, stays opposite a police station and is fascinated by their work and wanted to check if the Mumbai police could reach him after making the hoax call.

A police officer said, “The man had made the call to the pan-India single number Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) — 112, meant for citizens in emergency. He claimed that he had seen around 25 people gathered near TV actor Dilip Joshi’s (‘Jethalal Gada of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’) house in Shivaji Park and that they were talked about carrying out blasts near bungalows of Ambani, Bachchan and Dharmendra. He said the men carried weapons and explosives.”

After investigations, the Mumbai police team, headed by inspector Milind Kate, tracked the caller and he was picked up from Lonikhand, said a police officer. “He suffers from nearsightedness and is unable to see beyond a certain distance. He watches TV a lot and decided to make a call taking names of famous people. He told the ERSS staffer that he was a policeman,” said the officer. Prashant Kadam, DCP of Mumbai crime branch, said, “We have detained him and also seized his phone. We will hand him over to the Shivaji Park police where a case has been registered.”