Mira Road club gets LeT bomb threat on email

Seven Eleven Club is owned by kin of ex-BJP MLA; mailers seek 100 bitcoins (`7cr) as ransom

In a shocking incident, the management of Seven Eleven Club received an email threatening to carry out explosions at their ultra-luxurious recreation facility, situated in the Kanakia area of Mira Road.

The email, which names Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) as the sender, threatened to cause damage to the club by triggering explosives to blow it off, if the management failed to deposit 100 bitcoins (more than Rs7 crore in INR) as ransom money in the specified digital wallet within 24 hours. The club management alerted the police which immediately reached the spot. Following evacuation, the bomb detection and disposal squad from the Thane (rural) police screened the entire club area. However, neither explosive devices nor anything suspicious was found, said the police.

The email also threatened to abduct and kill the children of the employees. “After receiving the information, our teams reached the spot, evacuated and conducted a detailed search operation in the entire club premises. However nothing was found. Investigations were on to trace the origin of mail and identity of the sender on the virtue of the Internet Protocol (IP) address,” confirmed Deputy SP (Mira Road) Shantaram Valivi.

As a preventive measure, the club was closed for the day and security upped in the area. Owned by former BJP legislator Narendra Mehta’s family, the club has been in controversy for alleged illegalities and for defying environment rules.

Based on the complaint registered by the club management, an FIR for extortion and issuing threats has been registered at the Mira Road police station against the unknown senders. A detailed was probe was on and experts from the from the cyber-crime cell have been roped-in for investigations.