Man held for bomb scare in city church

Police arrest an inebriated man for making a hoax call saying a bomb would explode at a well-known city church.

An inebriated man was arrested on Tuesday for making a hoax call saying a bomb would explode at a well-known city church, leading to panic among the more than 15,000 people gathered there for Christmas.

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Pawan Sharma, 45, was arrested soon after he called up the Mandir Marg police station from a public kiosk in the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to say that a bomb would explode sharp at 10 pm on Monday in the nearby Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Police said around 15,000 people, who were present in the church, panicked when the bomb disposal squad arrived and carried out an intensive check. People were minutely frisked and made to pass through metal detectors.

According to police, they lost no time in tracing the phone number and its place of origin.

"We immediately sent a team to the hospital in plain clothes and asked them to keep an eye over people using the telephone booths. Sharma was arrested after he again came there and made a similar call," Assistant Commissioner of Police Gurdeep Singh told IANS.

On Monday, a multiplex in east Delhi's Prashant Vihar was vacated after a phone call claiming that a bomb had been planted inside the premises. It later turned out to be a hoax.

Sharma, a vendor who lives in old Delhi's Paharganj area, was produced before a city court and has been sent to 14 days judicial custody.