AIIMS bomb hoaxers were kids

The hoax phone calls claiming that a bomb had been placed at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, which triggered panic and a massive search of the premier institute on Wednesday, were made by two mischievous school boys, police said on Friday.

Making a breakthrough in the false alarm case, police found out that the phone calls were made by the boys aged 8 and 10 respectively from the mobile phone of one Lokesh Bahal, a medicine supplier, who stays in their house.

Police picked up the two boys and Bahal, residents of Uttam Nagar in West Delhi, on Friday morning after they traced the number from which the calls were made, Deputy Commissioner of Police Anil Shukla told PTI.

The boys confessed that they had made six calls, ranging from five to 21 minutes, from the phone after they heard that such hoax messages had triggered searches at the India Gate and wanted to have some fun. However, police did not arrest them and instead sent them for counselling and let off Bahal after questioning, he said.

A series of hoax bomb threats and an e-mail threatening to carry out attacks in the capital had led to searches at the India Gate, Red Fort, Akshardham Temple and Gurdwara Sis Ganj since the serial blasts in Mumbai suburban trains on July 11.

Police had earlier arrested a youth from northeast Delhi for making three hoax phone calls claiming that explosives were planted at Akshardham Temple, Gurdwara Sis Ganj and India Gate.