An abandoned bag found near Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane’s bungalow in south Mumbai triggered a security scare on Sunday before police confirmed it contained
clothes and shoes left behind by a foreigner, officials said. The incident took place around 9.30 am, when security personnel posted at the minister’s residence on Marine Drive spotted an unattended bag near the adjacent servant quarters and alerted the police. Officers from the Marine Drive police station and a Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) team rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area as a precaution, a report by PTI reported. During the inspection, the police found a pair of shoes, clothes and a note inside the bag, officials said. After scanning CCTV footage from the vicinity, officers tracked down the owner of the bag. The individual was identified as a US national in his 40s, who had already left for Goa by the time the investigation progressed. The man later informed police that he had been staying at a hotel in the Marine Drive area. Before departing for Goa early on Sunday, he placed the bag near the minister’s bungalow with a note that read, “shoes and clothes are free. Anybody can take it,” the official said. Once it was confirmed that the bag did not contain any suspicious or hazardous item, the area was declared safe and normal activities resumed.
