Man, claiming to be possessed, makes hoax bomb threats in drunk state

A drunk man made police of at least four southern states, including Karnataka, panic by making a hoax call threatening a 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 area in Karnataka capital Bengaluru. Interrogation revealed that he made the call allegedly in a drunken state.

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"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.

However, police officials said he was a habitual drinker. 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 Kumarhad 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.