Airport bomb hoax leaves security officials in a sweat

Express News Service Posted: May 20, 2008 at 2237 hrs
New Delhi, May 19 All security agencies, including CISF, the Delhi Police, BCAS and others had a sleepless night on Sunday after the Delhi Police Control Room got a call at 12:30 am claiming that a bomb had been placed inside the airport premises.

After the Jaipur blasts, a red alert has been declared at the airport and security agencies have increased all checks. A few hours later the call was traced to Shahdara.

“The call was made by a 27-year-old man, Radhe Shyam, who is pursuing his MA through correspondence from Himachal University. The man has been undergoing psychiatric treatment at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital,” said a senior Delhi Police officer.

Even as the Delhi Police was tracing the call, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee convened a meeting.

“We followed our usual drill as the caller had merely stated that a bomb has been placed at the airport. He did not even specify which terminal or which part,” said a senior CISF officer.

A dog squad made a thorough search of all the terminal buildings and extra vigil was taken in checking the luggage. “No building was evacuated and there was no situation of panic,” added the CISF officer.

Shyam’s family members were present in the house when he made the prank call using his elder brother’s cell phone.

No case has, however, been registered against Radhe Shyam, taking into account his psychiatric background.