The police has traced the owner of the rowboat that was found at Vikhroli on Monday morning and have sent an officer to Bhiwandi to take him into custody. The man, identified only as Tare, had bought the boat from an Alibaug-based woman, said police. She has been identified as Tandel. Both the persons will be brought to the police station where their statements will be recorded.
“We will question them on the purpose of using the boat, whether fishing or otherwise. We will also find out how the boat ended up at the spot. Nothing concrete can be said at this moment until the two are questioned. A team has been sent to Bhiwandi from where Tare will be brought to the police station. We are also trying to trace the woman through Tare,” senior police inspector Mahipat Indalkar of Vikhroli police station.
Police sources said that no case has been registered for now. “Avenues for registering an FIR in this case are very limited, unless it turns out the vessel was earlier used in a crime. In that case, we can book the accused for destruction of evidence. But, this is too far fetched as the duo is yet to be questioned,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity. The state Anti-Terrorist Squad too is looking into the case as it involves water vessels, owing to the current spotlight on coastal security. The police, however, believes it to be a simple case of abandoning a property and have preliminarily ruled out a terror angle.
A few fishermen found the boat at around 8.30 am in the creek near Kannamwar Nagar behind the Pragati High School on Monday.