MUMBAI: A suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was Monday found near a school in Kalamboli in neighbouring Navi Mumbai, police said.
Police were alerted after a watchman spotted the suspected explosive fitted with electric wiring and an attached battery, kept on a handcart near a gate of New Sudhagad School, an official said.
A team of Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) of Navi Mumbai Police and a dog squad found a concrete block with four electric wirings connected with a 12-volt battery and analogue watch in a box, he said, adding that a can containing five-litre petrol was also found near the device.
Efforts are still on to defuse the suspected explosive and a BDDS team of the Mumbai Police was also called in to join the operation.
The official said the BDDS team has disassociated the battery and wirings and have penetrated the block up to three inches, where they found cement only.
He said police will drill the block up to six inches with a piece of specialised equipment.
"As of now we cannot confirm whether the concrete block has an explosive inside or not, but it looks like an IED," said Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar.
The device was connected with the analog watch where timing can be fixed only for 12 hours, he said.
"We are also taking help of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) team which has been called from Telgaon training centre," he said.
Another official said the efforts are underway to find out the kind of material filled inside the concrete block.
"If we find cement after penetrating the block upto six inches, then we will try to defuse it by blasting," he said.
The block weighs around 50 kg and if we find that it contained only cement then it will be viewed as a case of mischief to scare people, he added.
Police are also analysing CCTVs installed in the school premises as well as nearby areas to identify person (s) who might have planted the box there.