Sharjah: An unclaimed bag discarded in traffic rattled some nerves on the busy Abdul Aziz Road in the Al Majaz area of Sharjah on Sunday morning.
Authorities treated the suspicious bag with great care and the road was cordoned off for almost an hour as a Sharjah bomb-disposal squad examined the bag to ensure its contents were not dangerous to the public.
The incident prompted police to urge the public to come forward and not to hesitate to report any suspicious object and inform the authorities.
A heavy police contingent milled around in full protective gear and several police vehicles, including a fire tender and ambulance, were spotted at the scene.
The bag was scanned and contained only a laptop and clothes inside.
“We take all reports seriously and deal with them,” Sharjah Police said.
The incident happened around 9am in front of Dubai Islamic Bank headquarters on King Abdul Aziz Road.
It is not known how the bag landed in the middle of the street.
An onlooker who was at the scene said the police first scanned the bag and moved it to the side of the road before opening it.
“I don’t think they found anything suspicious inside. They took the bag in their car,” he said.
It was secured by caution tape.
“It was quite eerie. There were cops everywhere,” said an Indian resident. “I tried asking one of them what the commotion was about but he just shooed me away,” said the man.
An Arab woman said she was not allowed to fetch her vehicle from the car park until about 10.30am. “They had secured the car park with a caution tape and they just wouldn’t let anyone in.”
A nearby florist said he saw several policemen wearing black protective suits jump out of a police truck as it rolled into the car park around 9.30am.
“Immediately afterwards the slip road leading to the bank was blocked, resulting in a tailback extending till Safeer Market.
The operation lasted for an hour in front of the bank on the busy street.
Meanwhile, Sharjah Police assured the public that there is no cause of concern about security in the emirate.
Police said its operations room received information about a suspicious bag in the road at 9am.
Residents can inform police on 999 about emergencies and 901 for non-emergencies.
With inputs by Mazhar Farooqui, Editor, XPRESS