Hoax bomb alerts have city cops on their toes

HYDERABAD: Hours after serial blasts rocked Mumbai, Hyderabad police were on their toes as they were flooded with telephone calls from citizens about suspicious persons and abandoned bags but they all turned out to be hoaxes.The police control room and a few local police stations received several calls by people alerting them of suspicious bags. Around 1 p.m. a caller said that a bomb had been planted in Dilsuknagar.Malakpet police were alerted immediately but it was found that the information was a hoax. “The caller said the bomb was planted in NRI college.But we found it was false information. Not wanting to take any chances, we thoroughly checked the college premises. I think it was mischief by one of the students of the college,” Malakpet inspector V Ravi Kumar said.Ever since news about the Mumbai attack broke out, several citizens in Hyderabad have been extremely cautious and are informing the police about any suspicious movement.In the central zone, seven telephone calls were received by the police and officials had to rush to the location.One caller from Medak “informed” the police that a vehicle was abandoned in Nampally railway station but it turned out to be false.