Student arrested for BEST bus bomb hoax

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra AntiTerrorism Squad (ATS) on Saturday arrested a 21-year-old BSC Radiology student for allegedly sending a hoax email to the Wadala bus depot claiming a bomb was placed in a route number 512 BEST bus.

The accused was identified as Harshil Panwala, 21, a resident of Nerul. According to officials at the RAK Marg police station, the Wadala bus depot’s main control room received an email on Friday night.

The email claimed a bomb was planted on a 512 route BEST bus, which plies between Nerul bus station and Mulund West via Turbhe, Vashi, and Airoli.

BEST intimated the police soon after receiving the email, following which a search operation was launched. “We stopped and searched several 512 number buses but found nothing suspicious. We then began trying to trace the sender of the email,” said the police officer.

On Saturday afternoon, the Maharashtra ATS arrested Panwala from his residence and handed him over to the RAK Marg police as the Wadala bus depot falls under its jurisdiction. “When we questioned the accused, he said that he studies at a college in Nerul and works part-time with a doctor in Vashi. He said that although he would wait for bus number 512 after work at Vashi, it never stopped due to over-crowding or some other reason. He complained about the matter to BEST as well as on the ‘Chalo’ app, but it was not addressed,” said the police officer.

Panwala has been booked under sections 505, 505(2) and 507 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 66-D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.