Mumbai Police on Wednesday detained two suspects from Gujarat’s Vapi for threatening to blow up a prominent hotel in India’s financial capital. Mumbai’s Lalit Hotel had received a hoax bomb threat from an unknown person on Monday evening and the caller demanded ₹5 crore to diffuse the bombs, which he claimed was kept at four places in the 5-star hotel located near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
“An unidentified person called the hotel and said that bombs have been kept at four places in the hotel and demanded ₹5 crore to defuse them,” said Mumbai Police.
The hotel management informed the police about the threat call, which turned out to be a hoax. The police searched the hotel premises following the threat but they did not find anything suspicious.
A case has been registered at Sahar Police Station in Andheri East, Mumbai under sections 336 and 507 of the Indian Penal Code.
Security beefed up ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi
Last month, two persons were arrested for making hoax calls about a person carrying bombs at Ambernath railway station in Mumbai. In March, a man was arrested for allegedly making a false bomb blast threat on the campus of Mumbai University.
With Ganesh Chaturthi, state’s biggest religious festival, around the corner, the Mumbai Police has stepped up security in the city. A senior official said that the police treat every threat call with the utmost seriousness regardless of its prima facie credibility.
“We immediately draw up a list of possibilities connected to the call. For example, if it is a bomb threat, we identify places where a bomb can be placed at the target location as well as where it can be brought in from. At the same time, all police stations are instructed to start random nakabandis as well as check with hotels and lodges about recent suspicious arrivals,” the official said.