Reporter’s diary: Hoax bomb callers keep Chennai police on their toes

At least seven hoax bomb calls have been reported in Chennai since January and most of such callers have been remanded in judicial custody. Once, an express train was halted for a couple of hours following one such call.

The reasons for such calls range from disputes between couples, the inaction of local police station to act on a vehicle theft, and even just people making the call under a few drinks.

On Sunday, the control room at the Old Police Commissioner’s office received a similar call and the person on the other end claimed to have called from Aranthangi. He threatened that he would place bombs at places where policemen gather across the state. While he hung up after the threat and a string of abuses, the police traced the call to Ramapuram.

On being alerted, the Royala Nagar police secured the person and investigation revealed that he was upset with police as they did not take action on a complaint regarding a land dispute he had filed in Pudukottai.

While on one hand the police are relieved that such bomb calls are turning out to be hoax, on the other hand, it puts unnecessary pressure on the already-overworked police to identify such miscreants.