Man who made hoax bomb threat call to Karnataka Raj Bhavan arrested

PTI, Dec 13, 2023, 12:02 PM IST

The man who made the hoax call about a bomb planted inside the Raj Bhavan premises here was arrested from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, police said on Wednesday.

The accused Bhasker (34), a B Com graduate, is in agriculture and hails from Vadahalli village in Mulbagal taluk of Kolar district, they said.

According to the police, a phone call claiming that a bomb was planted inside the Raj Bhavan premises here and could go off anytime threw the city police into a tizzy on night of December 11. The police scrambled all over the Governor’s official residence and finally concluded that it was a hoax call.

The investigation revealed that the accused had come to Bengaluru on Monday night and while passing by Raj Bhavan, he searched for the contact number of NIA’s (National Investigation Agency) control room on Google and made a call claiming about the presence of a bomb inside the premises of Raj Bhavan. The city police were immediately alerted about the bomb threat and necessary action was taken. Later, an investigation revealed that the bomb threat was a hoax call, a senior police officer said.

Initially, it was revealed that the call was made from Bidar and after the alleged call, the mobile phone was found to be switched off. However, later, using technical surveillance, the police traced the caller to Chittoor from where the accused Bhakser was arrested on Tuesday night, he said.

”The accused made the call out of curiosity…Just like that without knowing the consequences of his action. We have checked his background and he does not have any previous criminal record. We registered a case against him and made the arrest on Tuesday evening,” he added.