Bomb hoax wracks cops’ nerves

Earlier it was bomb hoax calls. Now, pranksters have taken to messaging police officials about bombs being placed at various locations in the city. One such message received by the PSI of Ellisbridge police station and several other police officials warned them about bombs being placed at different parts of the city.

The SMS said that the bombs were placed at Kalupur railway station, Gheekanta court, the Sachivalaya in Gandhinagar and airport among others. The SMS was sent in two parts, one at 11.45 am and the other at 5 pm. The evening message also warned of bombs being placed at LG, Civil and VS Hospitals. The PSI of Ellisbridge immediately forwarded the SMS to his superiors who informed the police control room.

Within minutes an extensive operation was launched by the police in all the aforesaid places.
Sources in the Ahmedabad city crime branch said various other police officials had also received the message.  Teams of police personnel stepped up surveillance near private and government hospitals as part of the operation.

Bomb squad and a dog squad also checked the places where the bombs were supposed to go off. However, police personnel did not find anything at these places. The message was a hoax. On two earlier occasions the police had received a call informing them about bombs at various places in the city. The calls had turned out to be hoax.