TIRUPATI: Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple and a couple of hotels in Tirupati received bomb threats on Sunday, prompting police to mobilise bomb squad personnel and launch searches. While this is the first time a bomb threat was sent to a temple, at least half a dozen hotels in the city have received hoax bomb threats over the past three days.
Alipiri police had received a mail regarding the bomb threat at the TTD-run temple. Bomb disposal teams and sniffer dogs were deployed at Hotel Renest and Pai Viceroy, situated near the Kapila Teertham circle, as well as at Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple, located near the administrative building of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
Fortunately, no explosives were found during the searches. The e-mails once again mentioned alleged drug kingpin Jaffer Sadiq and the ISI. Tirupati has been on high alert with several hotels receiving bomb threats over the past three days.
Subsequently, Tirupati police and the Cyber Crime Department have intensified their investigation into these hoax threats. Meanwhile, Hotel Taj Vivanta in Vijayawada also received a bomb threat on Sunday.
Krishna Lanka inspector SSSV Nagaraju confirmed the same. He said extensive searches were conducted at the hotel following a complaint received by the hotel management. "No bomb or explosives were found. It turned out to be a hoax call," he explained.