13 August,2023 05:48 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Representational Pic
A 43-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly making a hoax call to Mumbai Police about a "100-kg" bomb in the city, a crime branch official said on Sunday, according to the PTI.
The interrogation of the accused, identified as Rukhsar Ahmed who is a tailor by profession, revealed that he had made 79 calls to the Mumbai Police's control room in the last five months raising various complaints and issues, the official told the PTI.
The accused seems to be mentally unstable, he added, according to the PTI.
According to the crime branch official, Ahmed, a resident of Malvani area, called up the police control room on Saturday late at night and told the police personnel that a 100-kg bomb was kept somewhere in Mumbai city.
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Police tracked down the location of the caller to Malvani and arrested Ahmed, as per the PTI.
A case was registered under 506-II (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Further investigation is underway, the official added.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Police's numerous helplines and control rooms received 31 bomb-scare-related calls in the past seven months but every one of them turned out to either be a hoax or unfounded. The authorities also received a hoax suicide call in the same period. Seventeen people have been arrested in connection with the hoax calls. According to the police, mental illness and drunkenness are the root causes of the hoaxes.
On an average, the main control room receives bomb or other security threat-related calls five to six times a month. "The Mumbai Police's helpline numbers receive a lot of phone calls and we try to solve citizen's issues. Whenever we get a call, within 5-6 minutes, our team reaches the spot. Threat calls are taken seriously. I urge people to refrain from making hoax calls," said a senior police officer.
On August 6, a 25-year-old man was arrested from Juhu for allegedly making a hoax call to the Mumbai police. He claimed that serial bomb blasts would take place in local trains across the city.
(with PTI inputs)
