Hoax bomb calls: Pain for police while 'fun' for pranksters

New Delhi, July 23 (UNI) Even as the nation empathised with the July 11 blasts and the world condemned the dastardly act, for some keeping security agencies on tenterhooks through 'hoax bomb' calls was part of their daily 'fun'.

Surprisingly, most of those who were caught gave this as the reason for making the call.

For all the children arrested so far in making the hoax calls, it was a 'fun trip' even as the parents vouched for their innocence and pleaded it was a step to test 'police efficiency'.

Of the several 'hoax' calls made ever since last week, which began on July 14, the worst hit was Delhi where in a single day five calls were received about bombs being placed at five places in Delhi -- the historic Red Fort, the famous Akshardham Temple in East Delhi, PVR Plaza in Connaught Place, Gurudwara Sheeshganj in Chandni Chowk and Anand Vihar Bus Terminus in East Delhi -- sending the police into a tizzy.

Following this was a threat of explosives placed at the historic India Gate which was repeated over the next two days.

Providentially, none of them were found to be true, while the bomb squad, dog squad, fire brigade and the police force toiled for hours to sanitise the area for people's safety.

Two days later, on July 16, Delhi Police nabbed 18-year-old Mohd Shadab from Welcome Colony in Seelampur area of East Delhi for making the hoax calls.

A native of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, Shadab, a tailor, did it in ''masti'' after he found a mobile phone lying in a park.

On July 15, Delhi Police received a call of a bomb being kept at India Gate. It was later traced to a coin-operated PCO in a local court here. No leads were found which led to investigations being dropped.

In Mumbai, the same day, the Western Railway suspended services between Bandra and Andheri for 40 minutes, including the superfast Rajdhani Express between Mumbai Central and Delhi, following a bomb scare at the Vile Parle station.

The call was received by the 'Cyber Crime Cell' of the Mumbai Police, which after two hours of search was found to be a hoax.

The same day, a bomb scare in the Tirupathi-bound Narayanadri Express from Hyderabad turned out to be a hoax, after searches were carried out on the train, which was halted at Bibinagar station following an anonymous call.

No arrests have been made so far in both the cases.

On July 16, Mumbai Police informed the Delhi Police of having received a call of a bomb being planted at India Gate.

Two teenagers, Gaurav Singh Gosain (15) and Sanjay Singh Gosain (17), were arrested on July 22 from Poukhal village in Tehri district of Uttaranchal for making the call, which they said was out of ''curiosity and fun''.

The call had been made to the Mumbai ATS number which was being flashed on television, that a bomb had been planted at India Gate.

On July 17, the Thiruvanthapuram-bound Netravati Express was delayed for about two hours following a hoax bomb call.

However, a detailed screening of all the compartments and railway track at Kozhikode Railway Station found it to be a hoax. The caller is yet to be traced.

The same day in Mumbai Western Railway services between Lower Parel and Bandra were suspended for about 50 minutes following a telephone call of a bomb been placed at Dadar station. Later it turned out to be a hoax.

On July 19, panic spread at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi after police received a call of a bomb being planted at the prestigious institution, even as a day earlier even as Delhiites joined the nation in paying homage to the victims of Mumbai serial blasts.

Though searches yielded nothing, on July 21, a medical representative residing in Mohan Garden in Uttam Nagar area of West Delhi, was detained along with the two children of his landlady -- aged eight and eleven years.

The children had used the MR's phone to play the prank. During questioning they said they did it was a playful act, nothing more as they did not realise the consequence.

On July 20, President A P J Abdul Kalam received an e-mail threatening to 'eliminate' him, which was forwarded to intelligence agencies.

The mail was traced the very next day to a cyber cafe in Indore.

However, no arrests have been made so far.

On July 21, an eleven-year-old schoolboy in Madhya Pradesh's Katni district was 'detained' for claiming responsibility for the July 11 Mumbai blasts on Lashkar-e-Ulhak's behalf.

In his e-mail, Vibhor Kamalkar had held 'Lashkar-e-Ulhak' responsible for the Mumbai blasts and wrote 'Yes' about ten times at the end of his mail. He told investigating agencies he did it just for the sake of doing it and didn't expect to be caught.

Earlier, a youth Sumit Tamrakar had been arrested for sending a similar e-mail to a local Hindi daily taking responsibility for Mumbai blasts and threatening bombings in the state capital Bhopal.

He had described himself as SIMI chief in the e-mail. Later he told investigating officers that it was a prank.

Meanwhile, police, for whom the unneccessary drill had become a pain, were comtemplating taking strict action against errants to prevent repetition of this 'fun'.

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