Hoax threat of five terrorists entering the Lonavla township of Aamby Valley keeps Pune police on their toes for over three hours; after futile search, they find security guard passed out drunk at home
Paud police get a call from Suman Bhattacharya on a terror threat
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Teams are immediately deployed at Aamby Valley to look into the alert
Teams are immediately deployed at Aamby Valley to look into the alert
Pune: On a day security agencies went into a tizzy — and the Western Naval Command issued its highest alert along the coast — following sightings of some four suspicious looking men armed with weapons in Uran near Mumbai, the Pune Rural police were sent on a wild goose chase following a similar terror alert. For over three hours on September 22, the police scoured Aamby Valley in search of around five “bearded terrorists”, based on a tip-off from a security guard posted in the Lonavla township. After uncovering no lead, they tracked down the guard and found him passed out drunk at home.
VB Golde, Paud police station in-charge, has submitted a report on the incident to the SP of Pune Rural police.
Tip-off from 'source'
A senior office at the Paud police station, under Pune Rural police, said Suman Bhattacharya, who claimed to be an ex-serviceman and head of the security service of Aamby Valley, Lonavla, called the police station around 4.45 pm, and claimed that his “source” had tipped him off that some four to five terrorists were set to enter Aamby Valley.
“We were making security preparations for the Maratha Morcha (held in Pune yesterday) when we received the alert. Inspector Golde drew up a strategy to handle the situation. An hour later, a team from the Rapid Combat Force and Quick Response Team personnel, with the help of local police, rushed to the spot,” said the officer.
He said the Paud police did not have enough weapons to deal with the situation. “The back-up team from Pune
Rural police was around 100 km away. Our officer approached the commandant of INS Shivaji to help us out
with weapons. In the meantime, our team began questioning Bhattacharya.”
Guard's U-turn
The guard allegedly refused to reveal the identity of his informant. “When asked to point out the area where the suspected terrorists could enter from, he backtracked from his claim,” said the officer.
Despite Bhattacharya’s U-turn, the teams combed all of Aamby Valley till 8 pm and kept a dog squad on standby. After a futile search, the police once again landed at the guard’s door, and found that he had passed out drunk. With that, the search was called off.
mid-day reached out to Ghulam Zeeshan, spokesperson of Aamby Valley, via email. He said he would respond by the evening.
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