New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS) Delhi Police Wednesday detained a 45-year-old man from a hospital here on suspicion that he might have made a series of hoax bomb calls Tuesday.
“The suspect, Kanta Prasad, who is of Gorakhpur area of Uttar Pradesh and is at present living at Najafgarh area, was caught from a PCO (pay-phone) booth in the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital around 4 p.m. Wednesday while he was making a call,” a senior police official said requesting anonymity.

“He has been detained. We suspect that he made the hoax calls yesterday (Tuesday),” said Delhi Police’s spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.

“We will verify his details and then would take permission from the court to arrest him as it is a non-cognizable offence. We will then collect his voice sample to match it with the recordings of the call that we received yesterday (Tuesday),” Bhagat added.

“Prasad works with a gas agency in Najafgarh area. He has no one known admitted to the RML and came at the place only to make hoax calls,” the police officer added.

Anonymous calls warning of bomb blasts had Tuesday affected two busy Delhi Metro stations, two hospitals and three government buildings, including headquarters of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). It caused panic and led to thousands of people being evacuated from some of these places. In the end, it all turned out to be one big hoax.

The calls had kept policemen on their toes throughout the day.

The police had deployed their men in plainclothes near the telephone booth at the RML Hospital from where several calls were made Tuesday claiming that bombs were placed in prominent places.

“He was caught from that PCO booth where he was moving suspiciously,” the police officer said.

Meanwhile, another anonymous call threatening to blow up the MCD headquarters was received Wednesday morning. The police conducted an extensive search but it later turned out to be a hoax.

“The police received a call at around 8:20 in the morning. Within 15 minutes the police reached the spot and an extensive search was conducted with the help of bomb disposal and dog squads. After 75 minutes, the call was declared a hoax,” an MCD official said.

Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain Wednesday also reviewed security of the Town Hall with senior MCD and police officials in wake of the recent hoax calls. The mayor directed the officials to beef up the security at the Town Hall.

He directed that the entry of the vehicles should be restricted and the vehicle of only eligible political functionaries and officers should be allowed to be parked at the Town Hall.