Date:05/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/05/stories/2008120560000300.htm

New Delhi

Courts premises evacuated following terror threat

Staff Reporter

Anonymous call warned of a shooting spree similar to Mumbai

Caller said 6 terrorists would enter the premises under the garb of lawyers, go on a shooting spree
The call has been traced to a public telephone booth near Lady Harding Medical College

NEW DELHI: A day after eight hoax calls kept the Delhi Police personnel on their toes, the Tis Hazari district courts premises here had to be evacuated on Thursday following an anonymous call about an imminent terror attack similar to the recent shooting spree in Mumbai.

The call forced suspension of court proceedings for the day. It was declared a hoax after several hours of search.

The call made to the Police Control Room in the morning said six terrorists would enter the court premises under the garb of lawyers between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and go on a shooting spree. The caller also claimed that the court premises would be blown up.

Soon the police cordoned off the court premises leading to panic among lawyers, litigants and courts staff. The police teams accompanied by the bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs carried out anti-sabotage searches for several hours before declaring the call a hoax.

The police did not find anything suspicious.

“The call has been traced to a public telephone booth near Lady Harding Medical College. We are trying to identify the caller,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Sagar Preet.

On Wednesday, eight calls were made to the police between 12-30 p.m. and 1-30 p.m. claiming that suspicious-looking persons, probably terrorists, had been seen entering schools in Uttam Nagar, Om Vihar Phase-I, Kakrola, Hastsaal and Vikaspuri. The calls were declared a hoax after extensive searches.