An anonymous hoax call of a bomb threat at Sairam theatre in Hyderabad created a brief panic situation for 400-odd moviegoers on Saturday night. Police after a thorough search of the premises found no evidence of any threat and are on the lookout for the caller.
The police received a call via 100 around 9.30 pm on Saturday, claiming that a bomb had been placed at the Sairam theatre at Malkajgiri area in the city. The police soon swung into action deploying the bomb squad and sniffer dogs. No bombs were found after the police conducted a thorough search of the premises.
"We have the phone number from which the call was made but it is now switched off," said A Manmohan, Inspector, Malkajgiri police station under the Rachakonda police station limits. The police have found more details regarding the owner of the phone number, and the investigation is still ongoing. "After we conducted a search for over an hour, the movie resumed. We are confident that we will nab the culprit soon," the Inspector said. The police have so far registered a case under IPC section 505 – intent to cause fear or alarm in public.
In 2018, a similar prank call about a bomb planted at a bus stand in Adilabad was made by an anonymous caller to the police. The police after a search found two travel bags near a toilet complex at the bus station. The bags only contained utensils and clothes. A month later, another prank call as received by the Husaini Alam police station in Hyderabad said that the caller had placed a bomb at the Makkah Masjid.