Man held for making hoax call about bomb at India Gate

The Delhi Police on Tuesday nabbed a 40year-old man from Haryana’s Faridabad for allegedly making a hoax call about an impending bomb blast at India Gate, officials said.

The man was identified as Rakesh Mehta (40), a labourer who lives with his mother and two brothers in Faridabad’s Deepali Enclave, they said. A call was received around 1.40 PM on Monday. The caller said that within the next five minutes, there would a bomb blast at India Gate, the police said.

Within minutes, a police team along with emergency officer and PCR staff reached the spot. Since it was a critical call, bomb disposal team, water bowser and fire tenders were also alerted to reach the spot immediately, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Eish Singhal.

Meanwhile, the police also made several attempts to establish contact with the caller, but he could not be reached, he said.

Initially, it was found that the caller lived in Govindpuri in Kalkaji area of Delhi. But when a police team reached the Govindpuri address, it found that the person had shifted to another place five-six months ago, Singhal said.

The police team then managed to trace his current location to Vinay Nagar, Faridabad but he was not found there as well, he said.

Later, a team of Delhi Police’s Special Cell apprehended Mehta from his residence at Deepali Enclave. He was brought to Tilak Marg police station in Faridabad for a joint interrogation in the early hours of Tuesday, he added.

During interrogation, it was found that Mehta was under the influence of alcohol when he made the call, the police said.