School Project Mistaken for Bomb Causes Panic in Shubham Nagar
A school science project sparked a bomb scare in Shubham Nagar’s Palkar Layout on Wednesday after it was mistaken for an explosive. The confusion began when Devendra Nayak, a 16-year-old student from Mahatma Gandhi School in Wanadongri, brought his project home and forgot to inform his family about it.
Devendra and his friend had been assigned a project by their teacher as part of a request from VNIT, which asked students to create projects for Army personnel. The boys completed their project using shoes and electronic parts. On Wednesday, Devendra took the project home but rushed to school without explaining it to his parents.
When Devendra’s mother noticed the electronics inside the shoe box, she grew suspicious and called her husband, Dhaniram Nayak. Concerned, Dhaniram alerted the police. Officers from MIDC Police Station, led by Senior Inspector Mahesh Chavan, quickly arrived, and a Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) was called in to assess the situation.
The BDDS team carefully examined the box in a nearby forest and confirmed it was not dangerous. The scare was quickly resolved, but the misunderstanding caused brief alarm in the neighborhood.
Police later confirmed that the object was simply a school project and not a threat.