BENGALURU: A mysterious sound that echoed across Bengaluru at 12.18 pm on Friday led to people pressing the panic button, with many speculating it was a terror attack, sonic boom or quarry blast.
People from RT Nagar, Malleswaram, Rajajinagar, and Rajarajeswari Nagar in north and west Bengaluru to JP Nagar, Jayanagar, BTM Layout, Electronic City, Indiranagar in south and eastern parts of the city, reported having got jolted by the sound.
The police were clueless about the source of the sound or even what it was. When The New Indian Express contacted the city police, neither the police control room nor the local jurisdictional police had alerts from anywhere about the sound, which remained a mystery.
The city police directed their patrol vehicle personnel to different corners of Bengaluru, but failed to get any details about the sound, which was similar to the April 17, 2013 blast near the BJP office.
Bengaluru is familiar with sonic booms, the sound associated with shock waves caused when a fighter aircraft breaks the speed of sound, generating a sound similar to an explosion or a thunderclap.
The National Flight Testing Centre, under the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) which conducts flight tests on several supersonic aircraft, including the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, is also situated in Bengaluru and uses the HAL airstrip for its operations. However, HAL as well as defence officials denied that any of their aircraft caused a sonic boom.
The Indian Air Force has denied that any flying activity or other action from their side at that time caused a loud sound. “None of the IAF bases or units including ASTE (Aircraft Systems & TRaining Establishment) had aircraft flying at that time,” the Defence public relations officer said.
HAL spokesperson Gopal Sutar said “Regular sorties of fighters and trainers take place from HAL airport. Today was no different. HAL can't comment on the loud noise reportedly heard today in Bengaluru.”
The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) ruled out any earthquake or seismic activity being the reason for the mysterious sound. KSNDMC said, “Data was closely analysed from our seismic observatory for any possible seismic signals of an earthquake. The impression: earthquake data/record analysed for the above duration shows no signal of local tremor/earthquake.”
Meanwhile, officials from the mines and geology department have started looking for a possible quarry blast on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which could explain the mysterious sound. However, Deputy Director, Mines and Geology Department, Pratima G, said normally quarry blasts happen between 5.30pm and 6pm, but this sound was heard between 12 and 12.30 pm. “Also there has not been any such blast around the city today,” she said.