Shoe seller held from train in Nagpur for planting bomb-like device in Hadapsar hospital to extort doctor & meet treatment expenses

Pune: A shoe seller from Manjari was arrested on Friday morning from a general compartment of Howrah-bound Azad Hind Express at Nagpur railway station following a cat-and-mouse chase, two days after he placed a bomb-like device at Ushakiran Superspeciality Hospital in Hadapsar.The accused, Shivaji Rathod (30), had made the bomb-like object himself. He had allegedly planted it in the hospital on Wednesday night to extort a doctor and meet expenses of costly treatment for his chronic infection. The Pune police, in collaboration with the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS), zeroed in on him after scanning CCTV cameras’ footage of the hospital and its nearby areas, and his UPI transactions.Pune commissioner of police (CP) Amitesh Kumar on Friday refuted the terror angle and said prima facie, no explosive was used in the device. “We have given samples for forensic examination. The reports are awaited,” he said.The CP said Rathod needed nearly Rs7 lakh for his treatment. He allegedly watched videos to make the bomb-like device and placed it under the washbasin of a washroom near the ICU of the hospital.The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad defused the device at the Hadapsar Gliding Centre through controlled explosion. “We had only two options, either to cut the wire attached to the device or defuse it. We chose the safer second option,” CP Kumar said.He said the CCTV footage near the hospital revealed that Rathod had visited the health hub multiple times on Wednesday. He also went to a shop near the facility to purchase a tape. “Rathod used his UPI to pay Rs15. We got his cellphone number from the shop. It helped us to track him,” the Pune CP said.He said Rathod trimmed his beard and got a haircut after placing the device in the hospital. He went to the facility at night also, when the entire police force was there.CP Kumar said Rathod had planned to flee to Nepal, where his sister works. He booked a train ticket to Howrah through an app on Thursday, but did not divulge his plan to his wife and uncle.The CP said, “Rathod left barely 15 minutes before the police raided his home in Manjari. By the time our teams reached the railway station, his train had departed.”Rathod switched off his cellphone after boarding the train. He had made an UPI transaction of Rs3,000 at a cellphone shop in Pune before leaving for Howrah. The shopkeeper told the police that Rathod had taken Rs 3,000 in cash from him in lieu of the UPI transaction of the same amount.A source said alerts were issued to Akola superintendent of police Archit Chandak and Nagpur ATS teams about Rathod fleeing on a train. The Akola police deployed nearly 25 personnel at Murtizapur station, but Rathod managed to dodge them.The ATS personnel screened all trains arriving at Nagpur from Pune till Rathod was detained from the general compartment of Azad Hind Express. It had stopped at platform number 4 of Nagpur station. The accused tried to flee when he saw the police entering the coach, but the ATS personnel overpowered him. Pune CP Kumar said, “Rathod would be brought to Pune by Friday night.”He said when Rathod went to Ushakiran Superspeciality Hospital for the chronic infection treatment, he was given an estimate of Rs7 lakh. “He hatched a plot to extort the doctor and use the same money for his treatment,” the CP said.He said Rathod first purchased two pipes and wires from a hardware shop to make the bomb-like device. He then ordered a digital clock online. He spent Rs400 to make the device. “We found the empty cover of the clock at Rathod’s house during searches,” CP Kumar said.(With inputs from Soumitra Bose in Nagpur)