Fear of another blast results in numerous hoax calls

NEW DELHI: Another black Saturday came to haunt the Capital within a span of two weeks. Predictably, panic spread and the rumour-mills began working overtime. However, the city police, already on a red-alert, refused to take any chances. By evening, almost all district senior officials were deputed on special checks and major markets thoroughly searched.
Till late in the evening, at least `six' other areas were rumoured to have been targeted, though the Police Control Room (PCR) claimed not to have received most of these intimidations.These included city's private hospitals, cultural institutions and market places. Even a policeman's car raised enough suspicion to call in the local police.
The first `report' came from the PVR Saket area, close to Mehrauli, almost 15 minutes after the blast at the flower market. Even before the police could be informed of such an incident, rumour-mongers had found another `bomb' in the Sadar bazaar area. Fearing a repeat of the September 13 serial blasts, panicky shoppers who had gathered in large numbers for the first time after the blasts preferred returning home. By evening, most south Delhi markets carried a deserted look.
"What fuelled the confusion in busy markets were the routine checks carried out by the police. Every time the cops walked into the markets, news spread like wildfire that they were actually hunting for a `bomb','' said Sunil Sharma, a regular weekend movie-goer at Saket.
However, the most surprising, perhaps, among these hoax calls was one received from the area outside the Apollo Hospital parking lot. The object of "suspicion'' this time a policeman's car parked on the service lane outside the hospital.
"Around 2.30 pm, there were talks of an unclaimed Indica car parked in the area. Panic spread within no time. With two top Bollywood actors Dilip Kumar and Shashi Kapoor admitted at the hospital, we needed to act fast. However, we soon found the owner of the vehicle and normalcy was restored,'' said a senior police officer at the Sarita Vihar police station.
The busy Khan Market too, was one such victim. "Around 4.30 pm, shopkeepers and shoppers raised an alarm over an unclaimed electronic object lying in the market. Later, a thorough search yielded a transistor which belonged to one of our own employees,'' said Sanjiv Mehra, president, Khan Market Traders' association.
The action then shifted to Mandi House. At around 4.20 pm, a man rushed into the reception of a leading English media house at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg claiming that someone had thrown a bag at the Mandi House bus stop and ran away. Cross checks with the police, however, proved it was another case of rumour. "We have deployed personnel at all important markets and are personally visiting markets and important parking lots to check for suspicious material,'' said DCP (New Delhi), Anand Mohan.
Added Sagarpreet Hooda, DCP (north): "We have employed extra-personnel and are coordinating with all the area SHOs. We are deploying men according to the ground demands.''
However, police personnel say they are not "overtly worried'' about hoax calls. "People are naturally a bit tense. Moreover, it was the success of our `Eyes and Ears' programme that ensured the bomb did not go off at the Regal cinema last time. So, we encourage people to report about suspicious objects,'' said DCP (west), Sharad Aggarwal.