Mumbai: The Tardeo police have registered a case against an unidentified person who called twice with a bomb threat targeting the Haji Ali Dargah in Worli. The caller, identifying himself as ‘Pawan’, also threatened to shoot anyone who interfered. The case has been filed under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including charges related to public disturbance and hurting religious sentiments.
Initial investigations suggest that the calls may have originated from Delhi, with the crime branch conducting a parallel investigation along with the Tardeo police. Both mobile numbers used to make the threats have been traced.
Threatening Calls Received From Different Numbers
The complaint was lodged by Mohammad Ahmed Taher Sheikh, 42, the administrative officer of the dargah. According to Sheikh, the threatening calls were received on Tuesday and Wednesday, from two different numbers, though he believes both calls were made by the same person. The first call was received around 5pm on Tuesday. The caller claimed that a bomb had been planted in the dargah.
In response, a precautionary inspection of the area was conducted, but no suspicious items were found. The threat was reaffirmed when the same person called again. On Wednesday, Sheikh approached the police. Notably, certain Islamic preachers have been appealing to Muslims through the social media to boycott dargahs terming them to be “unIslamic”.