Boy’s prank call sends Bangalore police into tizzy

BANGALORE - A prank call to the police control room by an unidentified boy, sounding eight to 10 years old, Sunday afternoon that a bomb would explode in the upscale M.G. Road sent the city police into a tizzy and caused a scare in the area.

“The police control room received a call around 2 p.m. from a coin box phone in Shivajinagar area informing that a bomb had been placed at a construction site on the M.G. Road and it would explode soon. The caller voice was that of an 8-10 year boy who dialled 100 number,” Cubbon Park police station inspector Jagdish told IANS here.

Though the control room operator felt the caller’s voice seemed to be that of a young boy, he alerted the Cubbon Park police station for preventive action.

“We rushed a bomb detection squad and a dog squad to inspect the one km long M.G. Road, especially the stretch where the Bangalore metro rail project work is on. A thorough search of the area by the squads and our beat constables proved the call to be a hoax,” Jagdish said.

As the prank call was from a public booth, the control room and the police could not trace the caller.

“We are trying to locate or identify the missing boy as no one noticed him calling the control room in the busy Shivajinagar on a Sunday afternoon. If we succeed in identifying the caller, we will register a case against the boy under section 506 and 182 IPC (Indian Penal Code) for criminal intimidation and false information with intent to cause damage or panic,” Jagdish added.

During the hour-long search operation, the anxious crowds on the popular M.G. Road were kept at bay.