Surjit Singh, the PA to Adviser Pradip Mehra, said the caller was a woman. Immediately after the call was received, a message was flashed in the police control room. Police, rescue operation teams and a bomb disposal squad sealed the entire building in Sector 9. The call could not be traced as there is no caller ID attached with the landline.

The landline of PA to Adviser, as well as a majority of the other phones do not have a caller ID.

All routine work at the UT Secretariat remained suspended for over three hours as hundreds of employees and all senior UT officers were asked to vacate the building. The bomb disposal squad and the dog squad searched all the five floors of the building.

Three fire tenders and a trauma ambulance were also stationed outside the building. Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel ensured proper security arrangements while the search was being carried out.

The search continued till 3.30 pm. Work resumed after the police gave the go ahead.