Uran terror scare: Police dismiss rumours of arrests

Terming reports of suspects being detained as “totally false”, police today asked people not to spread “uncorroborated information” in connection with search for suspected armed persons who were spotted near the Naval base in Uran in Raigad district.

The search for the “suspicious men” continued for the third day today even as local police reduced the number of personnel involved in the operation.

“Uran operations are still underway and there is no success so far,” Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagarale told PTI this evening.

He appealed to people not to spread “uncorroborated information” about three suspects being detained by Panvel police at Gavhan village this afternoon, dubbing the reports as “totally false”.

Another senior police official said the people in the photos, which were being circulated on social media, were some labourers whose identity was established by their employers.

The police also withdrew a part of the additional force which was deployed in the search operation but the elite National Security Guard commandos continue being stationed in the area.

Indian Navy which had sounded highest state of alert after the first report of sightings of the armed suspects, called off its search yesterday afternoon.

Normalcy seemed to be returning to the fishing town of Uran, located across the creek from Mumbai, with shops and commercial establishments opening up. Schools and colleges, shut since Friday, will also be resuming after the weekend.

Some students of the Uran Education Society’s school had reported to have seen some suspicious-looking armed persons on Thursday.

Western India’s biggest naval base, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, fertiliser plants, refineries, power plants and the country’s largest container port JNPT are located in the close vicinity of Uran.