A drunken prank went horribly wrong for five men from Mumbai's Bhandup, who ended up in jail for trying to scare a taxi driver by posing as terrorists.
The five -- Jitu Jha, 30, Pradeep Pisal, 39, Sayed Shikalkal, 35, Nagendra Yadav, 25, and Akhilesh Ojha, 29 - have been booked under the Indian Penal Code Section 505 (1) (B) for "causing fear or alarm among public", and Thane Police Commissioner Parambir Singh said such action will be a deterrent for anyone planning such misadventure.
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The drama started in Bhandup around 12.40 am Sunday, when the five men boarded a taxi driven by Sandeep Sakpal to reach the Thane Civil Hospital, where Jitu's wife had been admitted
"They were clearly drunk and I wanted to refuse them, but they turned aggressive and said they needed to be at the hospital. I agreed after they said they'll board another cab in Mulund," Sakpal said.
Within minutes of boarding the cab, the five began talking loudly about the areas they had "planned to bomb".
"They said they had conducted a recce of Uran, and now they were surveying areas in Thane and Mumbai. One of them said, 'Let's not explode the bomb at the civil hospital. Instead, let's look for a bigger place'. I knew they were bluffing because even I realise terrorists won't openly talk about their plans," the taxi driver said.
"They told me, 'Uran mein kya hua maloom hai na?' That's when I decided to teach them a lesson," Sakpal said, adding that he drove straight to the Thane Nagar Police Station.
BCCL/representational image
The cops rushed to the hospital but found the five had left by then. The hospital's CCTV cameras had captured their images, which were circulated across all police stations. The cops also found from the hospital records that the wife of one of the accused (Jitu) had been admitted there, and in a matter of a couple of hours, they managed to trace him to his house. "All five were arrested around 3 am.
In almost all such cases, the offenders are let off with a warning, but Commissioner Parambir Singh said that it was time these cases were dealt with strictly. "We want to send out a stern message to all those who take security and dangers of terrorism lightly. Action against these five will be an example for everyone," Singh said.