Bangalore:
The Infosys campus in Bangalore turned into a fortress on Thursday after it received a bomb threat call from an anonymous caller. However, the call turned out to be a hoax after a thorough search.
Police said that the office received a call around 9 am stating that a bomb has been planted inside the campus and that it may go off any time. The receptionist, Rakesh, who was on duty at the time of the call, immediately informed the police. He told the police that the person who called spoke to him fluently in English.
Police personnel along with the bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs reached the spot immediately, and sprung into action by filtering their troops in 80 different buildings inside the campus.
After a gruelling search process, the police concluded that the call made to the Infosys office was a hoax call in order to create panic among people.
In fact, the employees inside the premises, who were unaware of the whole incident, thought it as a routine mock drill. However, none of them were evacuated from the office.
Police said that they did not want to inform the employees about the call as it would only create panic among them and worsen the situation inside the campus.
BNS Reddy, DCP, South-East division said, "Our team reached the spot immediately after they were informed. Officials from four different police stations coming under the south-east division, along with CISF personnel present at the Electronics City campus, were pressed into service to search for any explosive material."
"We have already traced the number from where the hoax call came. The call was made from a PCO in JP Nagar. The booth belongs to Kantaraj, a resident of the same area. We asked him whether he had any knowledge about the call, to which he said that he was busy with some other work at that time and did not notice anything," Reddy said.
"This is becoming a very serious affair now and we deal sternly with those who try to create panic in the city. If such miscreants think they can get away with this, then they are wrong. It is sad to see people indulging in these acts. They need to reform themselves," said Reddy.
Reddy also appealed to all PCO owners to keep a tab on their customers.