It was the horror of 2011 that came to frighten the security agencies in the national Capital again when an anonymous caller alerted Delhi Police that a bomb would blast at the Delhi High Court on Thursday morning. SWAT, bomb detection teams, fire fighters, Senior Delhi Police officials, special cell and dog squad were rushed in without delay. It was only after a two-hour-long search that the premises was declared safe, and the call a hoax.
Eleven people were killed and over 80 were injured in a bomb blast at gate number 5 of the High Court in 2011. According to the police, the control room received a call on Thursday at around 10:57 am. The caller claimed to have planted bombs inside the HC complex and said there would be a blast within an hour.
With no delay, security personnel at the court were alerted along with other agencies concerned, including bomb detection and disposal teams, dog squad, special cell, Intelligence Bureau and Delhi fire department. “Quick reaction teams along with anti-terrorist Parakram vans were rushed to the spot and armed commandos gheraoed the premises. Fire tenders and ambulances were also kept on standby. After almost two hours of scanning the premises, the bomb squad declared the area safe and the call was declared a hoax,” a senior police officer said. Security of the court was stepped up following the threat, and the police claimed that court proceedings were not affected.
Police said that the call, which was later traced, was found to have been made from northeast Delhi. The mobile number that was used to make the call was registered in western UP, the investigators said. It was found to be switched off, they said, adding that a case has been registered and the matter is being probed.
The alert, however sparked panic among the lawyers and other staff who were present in the court. Advocate Ashok Agarwal, one of those present there, said, “I was sitting in the bar room when one of my colleagues told me that there is a bomb threat. There was panic among the litigants, lawyers though the courts were functioning normally. I came out to see a huge deployment of police at the court premises and chaos for a brief period till the call was declared as hoax.”
Similarly, Advocate Abhishek Chaudhary, also present during the scare, said, “Initially, after seeing so much security, we thought that it was a mock drill, but following the information of the threat call, I personally rang up several of my colleagues and ensured their safety.” He added, “The lawyers removed their cars to make way for the vehicle of the security agencies which were deployed after the scare.”
Meanwhile, a meeting was conducted by the Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and senior officers where she was apprised of the problems faced by the probe agencies to enter the court premises with their vehicles due to illegal parking of the lawyers’ vehicles.
The Acting Chief Justice directed that no such problem should happen in the future due to the parkings.
0 Response to "Bomb hoax at Delhi HC triggers panic, searches - Daily News Analysis"
Post a Comment