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Hoax bomb call to WB secretariat; culprit arrested

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Press Trust of India Kolkata
Police have arrested a 35-year-old man for making the phone call, which later turned out to be a hoax, claiming that a bomb had been planted inside the West Bengal secretariat 'Nabanna'.

The call was received at the PBX of 'Nabanna' when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present in her office on the 14th floor, Joint Commissioner Kolkata Police (Hq) Supratim Sarkar said adding police was immediately informed of about the phone call.

Kolkata Police sleuths with sniffer dogs, bomb detection and disposal squad and personnel from the special branch immediately rushed to the secretariat but nothing was found during the hours-long thorough search in all the floors of the building.
 

The roof of the building was also checked throughly by the bomb and dog squads, besides the parking and other places around the building, which houses many important departments and offices of a number of ministers, Sarkar said.

Within hours, the police sleuths arrested a computer repairer Biswajit Saha from Purba Putiary in Regent Park area of the city.

A senior Kolkata Police officer said, "Why he made such a call is still unclear. We are looking into the matter and doing a background check of the person ... As of now we have not come through any links (terror groups)."

Security in and around the secretariat has been beefed up following the incident, he added.

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First Published: Feb 04 2016 | 8:42 PM IST

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