Threat to blow Taj Mahal due to 'misunderstanding'

MADURAI: The mystery over a recent telephone call from Melur near here threatening to blow up the Taj Mahal has been resolved with a special police team declaring it as a hoax call, borne out of confusion and 'misunderstanding' due to lack of knowledge of Urdu.
    
A special police team, including Intelligence officials and 'Q' branch of Tamil Nadu police, who visited Melur to enquire about the call, found that the complaint had been lodged due to a 'misunderstanding' of what the caller, a teenager from Madurai spoke.
    
Officials said 13-year-old boy Saddik of Melur had wrongly dialled the number of one Kalyan Singh while calling his brother. When he did not understand the chaste Urdu spoken by Kalyan Singh, he sought the help of his friend who knew "a little bit of Urdu", which landed him in trouble.
    
Saddik's friend taught him wrong Urdu words just to tease him. Kalyan Singh also did not understand Saddik's language properly and misunderstood that the caller had issued a threat to blast the Taj Mahal.
   
After the 19 second conversation, Kalyan Singh lodged a complaint with police along with the caller's phone number. Police found that the number was from a coin box phone from Madurai and informed Tamil Nadu police.
   
After questioning Saddik for two days, police found that it was just "mischief" and a "misunderstanding of conversation" and that there was no real threat. The Uttar Pradesh police have been informed about the findings.