Three held for planting IED near school to threaten builder

Three men were arrested Thursday for allegedly planting an explosive device near a school in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, with police claiming that their purpose was to intimidate a builder and extort money from him.

The discovery of the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) near the school in Kalamboli on June 10 had created a stir.

The police, however, said Thursday that there was no terror angle to the case.

The arrested men were identified as Sunil Sathe (35), resident of Pune; Manish Bhagat (45) and Deepak Dandekar (55), both residents of Navi Mumbai.

A special investigation team formed to probe the case nabbed the trio, said Tushar Doshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime).

Police had formed six investigating teams and analyzed the footage of at least 40 CCTV cameras, he added.

A motorbike, laptop and mobile phone which were allegedly used in the crime too were seized, he said.

The accused had put together the IED using ammonium nitrate powder and gelatin sticks, the DCP said.

The accused were in the stone-quarrying business and knew each other, he said.

Sathe and Dandekar were debt-ridden and wanted money, so they allegedly hatched the plan to carry out a blast near the builder's house to intimidate him and extort Rs 2 crore from him, the officer said.

The house is close to New Sudhagad School.

By carrying out the blast, they planned to threaten and extort money from other builders in the area too and plant bombs at their houses if money was not paid, he said.

The IED was planted on a handcart near the builder's house on June 9. It had a timer and was supposed to go off around 10.30 pm, but it did not explode due to some fault.

It was spotted by a watchman on June 10, the first day of school.

The device was defused with the help of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team. The Anti-Terrorism Squad had also joined the probe.