'Tipsy' man sends police in four states on wild goose chase over hoax bomb threat, arrested
Bengaluru, Apr 27: A 'tippler' sent police of at least four southern states, including Karnataka, into tizzy by making a hoax call threatening bomb blast, officials said.
The man, Sundar Murthy in his 60s, was arrested Saturday for allegedly raising the false alarm, police said.
He called the police control room in Bengaluru on Friday night and said 19 terrorists were holed up in a town in Tamil Nadu and were set to bomb cities, trains and buses in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Following the call, police swung into action.
The city police managed to trace the person, who made the call, to Avalahalli near here.
Interrogation revealed that he made the call allegedly in an inebriated state.
"During interrogation, he told us that he gets possessed by some divine souls who make prophecies in his vision and his call was based on one such vision," said Additional Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar.
The fact is he is a drunkard, said the police official.
Murthy told police that he was an ex-serviceman, who is now driving a tipper-lorry.
His two sons are serving in the army while he was staying with his third son at Avalahalli.
A threat call to bomb the Pamban sea bridge in Tamil Nadu's Rameswaram was also received on Friday, prompting police to carry out extensive searches.
Recently, Bengaluru Police commissioner T Suneel Kumar had convened a meeting with heads of various temples and religious places and managers of commercial establishments to take extra precautions and alert police on finding something suspicious.
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No more street vending on B’luru’s main roads, as govt plans to bring new policy for street hawkers
Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the state government has decided to formulate a new policy for footpaths in Bengaluru, under which street vending will not be allowed on main roads and sub-main roads.
Addressing the media after a budget preparation meeting and executive meeting of GBA corporations at Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said discussions were held with MLAs from the GBA region regarding the corporations’ budgets and key civic issues.
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok also participated in the meeting and shared his views. Officials from multiple departments, including police, BESCOM, BMRCL, BWSSB and BDA, along with ministers and legislators, were present.
He stated that all five municipalities have prepared their individual budgets, while MLAs have submitted their demands, including calls for ward-wise grants.
“We have decided to bring a new policy for footpaths. Citizens are struggling to walk as footpaths are encroached upon by street vendors,” Shivakumar said.
Highlighting the need to balance livelihoods and public convenience, he added that “a separate space will be provided for street vendors, and specific roads will be designated for their business,” ensuring that pedestrians can use footpaths without obstruction. He noted that there was unanimous agreement among MLAs on this approach.
Issuing a warning to vendors, Shivakumar said that authorities will act against those violating the rules. “If vendors operate during the day and leave their carts on the roadside at night, authorities will clear them. People should be aware of this,” he said.
Providing data on street vendors, he said that around 60,000 vendors have registered so far, of which 30,000 have applied for vehicles, and a tender has already been floated.
“Only those with street vendor identity cards will be allowed to do business. Those without ID cards will not be permitted to operate on the streets,” he added.
