With ‘Thank You’ Message, School Owner Gets Parcel Bomb In Gift Box

Team Udayavani, Oct 18, 2018, 9:00 AM IST

Rajkot: The owner of a private school in Rajkot received a ‘parcel bomb’ in a gift box, which was destroyed Wednesday morning, a senior police official said. Police are now looking for the unidentified sender.

The bomb, made with gelatin sticks and a detonator switch and packed in a gift box, was delivered by a courier at the Shri Krishna School run by Vitthal Dobaria, 320 km from Rajkot, on October 12. He alerted police after he became suspicious of the box’s contents. 

The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad destroyed the bomb early Wednesday morning in a ‘controlled blast’, district Superintendent of Police Balram Meena told news agency PTI. 

“We suspect that the person who delivered the gift box was not a courier boy since he did not follow the usual procedures of courier firms. The sender had written on the box that he was a former student of the school and sending the gift to thank Dobaria for his support,” said Meena.

“The sender had requested Dobaria to open the box on October 14. Dobaria opened it Tuesday night and found suspicious items inside, so he alerted police,” the SP said. The materials used to make the bomb are generally used for tunnel blasting, he said.

“Luckily, the bomb did not go off. The sender could be a novice. But it was clear that Dobaria was the target. He has not pointed fingers at anyone. We have formed four teams to identify the culprit,” the SP said.