Under-trial prisoner booked for hoax call about bomb in Raj Nivas, railway station

An under-trial prisoner was booked on Monday for making a bomb hoax call to the police control room here claiming that explosions would take place at the Raj Nivas -- the residence of the Lieutenant Governor -- and a railway station, police said.

Nitish Sharma, facing trial in an alleged car theft case and lodged in Kalapet Central prison, had made the call on Sunday around 12.30 pm. He told the police control room that powerful bombs placed at the Raj Nivas and a local railway station would go off in the next 24 hours, a police official said.

Police immediately swung into action and deployed Bomb Detection and Disposal squad personnel at the premises of Raj Nivas and the railway station. It was later found that the call was hoax and traced to Kalapet Central prison.

A case under Indian Penal Code Section 507 (punishment for criminal intimidation) has been registered against Sharma and further investigation is on, police said, adding 11 mobile phones have been seized from the prison's under-trial yard on Sunday.