Terrorist alarm in Uran was the figment of a 12-year-old schoolgirl's imagination

Just four days after the Uri attack, there was panic in Mumbai because of reports that several terrorists have been seen in the area near Uran Naval Base. Immediately, a massive, multi-agency search was mounted by the Navy, Coast Guard, NSG and Maharashtra ATS. They had to locate "a group of suspicious men dressed in black and heard mentioning 'school' and 'ONGC'" near the Uran Naval base in Navi Mumbai.
However, it did not yield any result because it was figment of a 12-year-old girl's fertile imagination.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 29 September 2016.

The local schoolgirl of Uran had mentioned of seeing 4-5 men dressed in Pathan suit and conversing in a different language. They were carrying what looked like weapons. Uran was immediately put on high alert and a massive search operation covering land, air and sea was launched. But, the suspects could not be traced.
Subsequently, during a second round of questioning two days later, the girl conceded that she had concocted the story. She had seen pictures of Islamic State terrorists wearing black clothes and flashing automatic weapons and that prompted her to spread the word that she had spotted them in Uran - she just wanted some thrill.
Such false alarms remain a matter of grave concern because they cannot be ignored. If proved correct, they are a valuable tool in preventing terror attacks. But frequent false alarms contribute to force fatigue because false alerts cost resources and money.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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