Mannat Saini, Pune
54 Detonators were found in two abandoned boxes on Wednesday morning on Platform Number 1 of Kalyan Railway Station in Thane District of Maharashtra.
The boxes have been seized by the Government Railway Police (GRP).
At the time of discovery, passengers alerted local authorities of the two unattended boxes lying at the station on the Central Railway (CR) Route. The Government Railway Police was informed and the area was sealed at 11 AM. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and Dog Squad were immediately summoned to examine the boxes.
Sniffer Dogs were used to conduct an initial security check. The BDDS team confiscated the boxes and took them into custody. They found a total of 54 electronic detonators. Detonators are devices containing a small amount of explosives that are conventionally used to mine or break mountains.
Due to the nature of the articles discovered, Thane Police and Anti-terrorism Squad have also visited the Railway Station. Officials claim that the incident does not pose a threat to the safety of passengers.
The Government Railway Police has launched a probe and is registering a case against unidentified individuals.
Thane is infamous for the use of detonators to illegally catch fish. The detonators are used to send shock waves across the water, killing them instantly. They are then collected and gathered using fishing ropes. The use of detonators has also been observed for carrying out blastings in quarries.
The Deputy Police Commissioner, Manoj Patil from Railway Police said that there were no security threats as “There is no security risk or possibility of explosion as the boxes contained only detonators which are used for triggering blast in gelatin sticks and are often used at mining or trench digging sites. We are also tracking the CCTV footage to get more information”.
Kalyan Railway Station is situated on the outskirts of Mumbai City, falling into the Thane District. It serves commuters of both long routes and suburban trains and is generally extremely crowded.
While the investigation continues, the incident serves as a reminder of the importance of active security checks at public spaces.