Two ‘terrorists’ create panic in Palghar, turn out to be actors in Tiger Shroff - Hrithik Roshan starrer film

Two bearded men in conventional militant gear – complete with army fatigues, multi-utility vests and Gabbar-esque cartridge belts across their chest – on Monday, created panic in Palghar’s Vasai and led the police on a wild goose chase for close to an hour. The massive search operation to trace them panned seven police stations and involved a red alert and a security directive to the Coast Guard.
Fortunately, CCTV camera cover and some proactive sleuthing helped the trace the men within an hour. It turned out they were extras on a Yashraj movie set that also reportedly stars Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. The men had left the set only to buy cigarettes.
Straight out of a Bollywood potboiler
On Monday afternoon, Anil Mahajan, an ATM guard, spotted the two suspicious looking men in the Panchvati Naka area.
“I had not brought my tiffin and had gone there to buy some food when I spotted one of them buying cigarettes,” he said. The other ‘terrorist’ was waiting in a van at the time.
An ex-serviceman who has worked with the Border Security Force, Mahajan first called his brother who is a cop who insisted he inform the police control room. A team, led by Senior PI Rajendra Kamble of Manikpur police which is located merely a kilometre away rushed to the spot. They scanned CCTV cameras in the vicinity and spotted the ‘terrorist’.
“As soon as we saw for ourselves that men matching the description were actually roaming the streets in a suspicious-looking van, we alerted our counterparts in Mumbai and Thane. Also, teams from seven police stations were asked to step up patrolling,” he said.
The license plate number of the van was circulated to all police stations and other agencies.
The make and model of the van was a bigger cause of concern for the police raising fears of a bigger team of armed men preparing for an attack. The fact that the nearby Vasai creek was easily accessible from the Arabian Sea posed a huge security breach issue.
Luckily, a police team spotted the van in Nallsopara. Alarmed at the scene, the men told the police that they were part of a yet-to-be-titled Yashraj movie whose shooting was taking place at Suncity.
To check their claims, the police even went to the set and found they were telling the truth.
The two men, along with the unit in-charge and the set co-ordinator have been booked under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code (disobeying an order promulgated by a public servant). The actors have been identified as Balram Ginwala, 23, and Arbaaz Khan, 20. Additionally, two others - location co-ordinator Himalaya Patil, 27, and the unit in-charge Dattaram Lad, 38 – have also been booked.
“The unit had all the permissions in place but we had to book them considering the panic they created. Also, the actors should not have come to a populated area in their get-up, especially when they were dressed as terrorists,” said an official from Nallasopara police.
“While it didn’t turn out to be a serious instance, it spells success for our ‘Ek Camera Sheher ke Liye’ initiative under which we have asked all commercial establishments to turn one of their CCTV cameras towards the street so we can use the footage as and when required to solve cases,” said Palghar SP Gaurav Singh.
The production house, Yashraj Films, although confirmed the incident, denied a comment.