Bomb threat in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar; searches conducted

Thorough searches were conducted in the State secretariat and assembly premises in Gandhinagar following an SMS that claimed bombs have been planted there and at other places including hospitals across the city, police said today.

Bomb disposal squad (BDS), dog squad and local police were sent to various locations for searches, and so far nothing incriminating has been found, they said. The searches are on at some places.

"An SMS was sent on the mobile phones of some police officers and the control room saying that there were bombs planted at different places in the city which would be blown up," JCP (sector 1) Satish Sharma, Ahmedabad, said.

"As it was a bomb threat, as a precautionary measure, we sent teams of police personnel to all locations mentioned in the SMS. The BDS and dog squad are also conducting searches at various places," he said. Sharma said that at most of the places searches were over and nothing was found.

"Now, we are trying to trace the who sent the SMS and from where. We will be able to locate it soon," he added.

In Gandhinagar, following the bomb threat, dog squad and police conducted searches at the secretariat which houses office of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and the assembly building, but found nothing, sources in the home department said. Modi is at present in Kutch district of state for the desert festival.