Minor held for putting explosive device in courier parcel for claiming insurance

Mumbai: A boy has been detained  for allegedly assembling a low-intensity explosive device and packing it in a courier parcel for claiming insurance money, police said on Saturday.

The parcel caught fire at a courier firm’s office earlier this week, causing panic, but no one was injured in the incident, a police official said.

After the courier company alerted police, the boy who had allegedly shipped it was tracked down and detained on Friday, he said.

As per the police, the boy came across an online advertisement of insurance policy for the goods damaged during transportation, and hatched a plan to get easy money.

He allegedly assembled an electric circuit using firecrackers, an electronic battery and a mobile phone by using information obtained on the Internet. The mobile phone’s alarm was to act as a trigger.

He created fake



invoices for two computer processors, a mobile phone and a memory card, altogether worth over Rs 9.8 lakh, and bought an insurance policy for these goods using the invoices.

He then packed the device in a parcel and booked it for shipping to a fake address in Delhi.

The packet was collected from his home in suburban Santacruz by an employee of the courier firm. At the firm’s office in Jogeshwari area, it caught fire on Tuesday night, causing alarm and leading to police inquiry, the official said.

A case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance).

The boy has been sent to a Children’s Home till July 27 as per the Juvenile Justice Act and further probe is on, the official said.