He ‘defused’ it, but it wasn’t a bomb

FARIDABAD: It seems to be raining hoaxes in the city and one such attempt to spread fear was thwarted by an alert citizen. Gurcharan Singh (51) helped ���defuse��� a contraption designed to look like a bomb. That he knew it was harmless is another matter.
The drama began when a passerby noticed a device with an LED circuit and some wires coming out of it opposite the Banke Bihari temple on NH-5.He immediately raised an alarm and people started gathering around. Soon police also arrived on the scene and after observing the ���bomb���, announced that the bomb disposal squad had been informed.
This was the moment Gurcharan Singh decided to step up. Singh, who runs an engineering workshop on NH-5, stopped his car to enquire about the huge crowd blocking the road. He took one look at the device and approached the police, telling them that if the main wire was cut, the ���bomb��� will be defused. He even brought out a plier from his car and offered to cut the wire.
Before the police could react, Singh casually went to the device and cut the wire, happily announcing that the ���bomb��� had been defused. He then lifted the contraption and handed it over to the police. The relieved crowd gave him a round of applause, praising his ���heroic��� action and started dispersing. However, on opening the device, the police found to their dismay that it was just a hoax.
Singh, the hero of the day, said, ���I had noticed tyre marks over the device and it struck me as harmless, otherwise the vehicle that went over it would have been blown to pieces. So, I do not deserve any undue credit for my so-called courage and the incident should be treated as a closed chapter. However, as a citizen I regret having noticed two incidents on consecutive days by irresponsible people making a fool of worried citizens.���
The police too lamented the frequency of hoaxes. Speaking to Times City, SSP Shrikant Jadhav regretted the tendency of irresponsible citizens to play jokes on citizens who are already worried about the spread of terrorism. He appealed to the public not to play such cruel jokes on the citizens at this critical hour. ���While I salute the gentleman who took the courage of cutting the wire of the device, I would advice people to leave such matters to trained police personnel. We have installed hoardings all over the city asking the public to not touch any suspicious object and to wait for the police to take charge���, he said.
(toireporter@timesgroup.com)