The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Bank officer arrested as hoax calls haunt police

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Thursday, Jul 31, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Bank officer arrested as hoax calls haunt police

Staff Reporter

Police arrest an ICICI Bank employee who allegedly played a prank

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

ANOTHER ANXIOUS DAY: Students standing outside the Surana College following a bomb hoax in Bangalore on Wednesday.

BANGALORE: The city police, who have been stretched, thanks to a slew of hoax calls following last week’s serial bomb blasts, on Wednesday arrested a private bank employee who allegedly made such a call to them.

The police said Abdul Rasheed (38), a Senior Business Development Officer with ICICI Bank, called the Wilson Garden police station on Tuesday saying a bomb was likely to explode in their jurisdiction within two hours. The police searched the area before concluding it was a prank call. They then tracked the mobile phone call and arrested Rasheed from his house in Sudhamanagar.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) M.R. Pujar said the police was taking stern action against such prank calls which were creating panic among the public. Rasheed has been accused of committing offences under Section 505 (statements made to create fear or alarm), Sections 506 and 507 (criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code.

If found guilty, he will get three years. Mr. Pujar said the police had identified two others who made prank calls to three colleges on Wednesday.

One call was made to Surana College, Jayanagar, around 10.30 a.m. College principal A.S. Chandramouli informed the police, who came to the college along with the bomb detection and the dog squads. The police searched the college premises before giving the all-clear for students to get back to their classes.

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