A car laden with gelatin sticks was found abandoned near billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Antilia residence in Mumbai on Thursday. Bomb squad and police teams were rushed to the site. A probe is underway.
About 20 gelatin sticks were recovered from the vehicle. The recovery of the suspicious green-colored Scorpio SUV in a high-security zone has sent the security agencies into a tizzy. Top officials from Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) also reached the spot.
Eyewitnesses told India TV that the SUV was seen parked just a few yards away from Antilia earlier in the evening. According to reports, security guards present at Ambani's multi-storey house alerted the police about the suspicious vehicle. Soon, police teams along with bomb squad arrived at the spot.
All roads leading to Antilia have been cordoned off and a search operation has been launched.
Mumbai Police PRO, in a statement, informed that a suspicious vehicle was found on Carmichael Road Thursday evening under limits of Gamdevi Police Station. "Police was alerted. Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) team and other Police teams reached the spot immediately, examined the vehicle and found some explosive material Gelatin inside. It is not an assembled explosive device. Further investigation is going on," the statement read.
The Maharashtra government said it was in touch with the police commissioner and will heighten the security of the Ambani family's if the need arises.
Antilia sits on Mumbai's tony Altamount Road. It is one of the most valuable private residential properties in the world. The 27-storey home is the most expensive residence in India.
Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $88 billion (revenue) Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail. Reliance was founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, a yarn trader, in 1966 as a small textile manufacturer.
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