Shinde car bomb threat: Emails sent as mischief, not a serious plot

The Mumbai police arrested two persons from Maharashtra's Buldhana district in connection with emails threatening to blow up deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's car, officials said on Friday.

As per the preliminary investigation, the emails were sent as mischief and not as part of a serious conspiracy, an official said.

The duo were identified as Mangesh Wayal, 35, and Abhay Shingne, 22, both residents of Deulgaon Mahi locality in Deulgaon Raja town in Buldhana.

Emails threatening to bomb Shinde's car were received at Goregaon and J J Marg police stations in Mumbai on Thursday.

A First Information Report was registered at the Goregaon police station under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Sections 351(3) (criminal intimidation) and 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief).

The Mumbai crime branch, which launched a parallel investigation, used technical analysis to track down the culprits, the official said.

A crime branch team visited Buldhana and took them in custody with the help of local police.

Wayal is a truck driver while Shingane owns a mobile phone shop. The threatening email was sent from Wayal's phone when it was apparently being charged at Shingne's shop.

The two had had a dispute, and it was suspected that the email was sent as a mischief rather than as part of any larger conspiracy, but further probe was underway, the official said.

The crime branch has handed over the duo to the Goregaon police, he added.