NEW DELHI: A 38-year-old man was arrested for allegedly making hoax bomb call to Red Fort and Jama Masjid. He used lost SIM and mobile handset to make the call, police said on Thursday. The accused has been identified as Asif, a resident of Karawal Nagar, they said.
On April 10, a bomb threat call was received in which the caller claimed that explosive devices had been planted at Jama Masjid and Red Fort. The search was made and nothing suspicious was found.
A team was formed and tasked to identify the source of the call and tracing the device as well as the user. The mobile number used to make the hoax call was found to be registered in the name of one Saddam, a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad, UP who was informed that his mobile phone had been lost on April 6 in Kaler, Roorkee, a senior police officer said.
Through technical analysis and surveillance, the mobile device was found to be in use by Asif. The verification revealed that Asif had vacated his residence. He was finally traced and apprehended near GTB hospital on Monday around 11 pm, Deputy Commissioner of Police (central) M Harsha Vardhan said.
During interrogation, Asif confessed to having found Saddam’s mobile phone in Kaler, Roorkee. On April 10, he made the hoax bomb call to 112 from the Paharganj area of Delhi. He, in inebriated condition, made the call on the emergency helpline number.
After making the call, he broke the SIM card to destroy evidence and discarded it. The mobile phone used to make the hoax bomb call was recovered during the investigation.