The calls had turned out to be hoax after search by police teams did not yield anything suspicious.

The first hoax call came last Monday, at two local schools, first at Lal Bahadur Sernior Secondary School, Miller Ganj near Dhuri railway line and next at the BCM School in the Model Town.

Following the calls, police parties thoroughly checked the premises of these schools. The police also took the help of the anti-bomb squad teams.

The very next day, there was bomb scare at MD Public School on the Kakowal Road following a hoax call. Principal Shashi Dhingra told the police that some caller, who had claimed to be a terrorist, said a bomb had been planted on the school premises. Here also, police could not find any bomb.

The latest incident was yesterday when a call was received at the police control room, informing the police that a dacoity was about to be committed in a bank in the Miller Ganj area. The caller challenged the police to safeguard the bank if they could. This call, too, turned out to be a hoax.

The calls gave a tough time to the police, especially when the district does not have adequate police force.

According to highly-placed sources in the police, Ludhiana has the same police strength that it had about a decade ago. A requisition sent by the previous SSP A S Rai to the higher police authorities for increasing the strength in the district has still not been accepted, added the sources.