Delhi: Bomb threat at Red Fort declared hoax after extensive security check

New Delhi, July 11 (IANS) A bomb threat targeting Delhi’s historic Red Fort triggered a major security response on Saturday, prompting police and security agencies to conduct a comprehensive search of the monument before declaring the threat to be a hoax.

According to Delhi Police, the threat originated from a phone call made to the Mumbai Police Control Room, during which the caller allegedly claimed that the Red Fort would be blown up. Mumbai Police immediately relayed the information to the Delhi Police Control Room, which alerted the North District Police to initiate security measures.

Soon after receiving the alert, police personnel, bomb disposal squads, and other security teams rushed to the Red Fort and carried out an extensive sanitisation and inspection of the premises. After thoroughly checking the area, officials found no suspicious object or explosive material and confirmed that the threat was false.

Authorities are now working to trace the caller and determine the motive behind the hoax threat. An investigation has been launched, and legal action is expected against those responsible.

The latest threat comes months after a high-intensity vehicle-borne Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast near the Red Fort Metro Station that claimed several lives and left more than a dozen people injured. Investigators had identified the driver of the explosive-laden Hyundai i20 as Umar-un-Nabi, a Kashmiri doctor employed at Al-Falah University in Faridabad.

The explosion occurred on the same day that security agencies recovered around 2,900 kg of explosives, including ammonium nitrate, from a location in Faridabad, Haryana, approximately 50 km from the national Capital. Investigators had suspected that the accused detonated the vehicle after two alleged associates, Dr. Muzammil Shakeel and Dr. Adil Rather, were arrested and the explosives were seized.

In another major counter-terror operation in May, Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested nine men allegedly linked to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. According to investigators, the accused were allegedly planning attacks on key installations, including airports, railway stations, power plants, nuclear facilities, and security personnel.

–IANS

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