Bomb hoax in 2 Maharashtra schools

Mumbai: Police on Wednesday searched two schools, one in the city and another in Thane district, after reports that bombs had been planted in them.

However, the reports turned out to be hoax.

The principal of St Joseph School in suburban Juhu received an anonymous call that a bomb had been planted in the premises.

He immediately alerted police, who swung into action with a bomb squad but no suspicious object was found, officials said.

In another incident, unclaimed baggage was found in the premises of St Zavier's Achool at Mira Road in Thane. The bomb squad took away the bag but nothing was found in it, police said. It was not known who had left the bag in the school.

Since the July 11 bomb blasts in commuter trains here, city police have been receiving such calls but all of them have turned out to be hoax.

On July 14, police received a false alarm about a bomb at Mumbai Central railway station. The next day, train services between Bandra and Andheri were suspended for 45 minutes in evening peak hours after a bomb squad was pressed into service to locate a bomb at Vile Parle station. Even this was a hoax, police said.

On July 17, police thoroughly searched Dadar and Byculla railway stations after they received calls about bombs being planted there but nothing was found.

Tight security has been put in place at all stations, with commuters being searched at random. At certain stations, closed circuit television systems have been installed.