A bomb threat led to an evacuation at Elante Mall, the largest shopping destination in Chandigarh on Monday afternoon. The search operations were called off after more than four hours and the bomb threat turned out to be a “hoax”.
“A thorough search operation was carried out by Chandigarh Police in and around the Elante Mall. All field units of Chandigarh Police were swung into action after receiving a call. There is no bomb or any other threat in Elante Mall. Search operation has finished and mall is open to public,” said a senior UT police officer on Monday evening.
He said that the caller who supplied false information to Chandigarh police control room is being booked under relevant provisions of law and we are working to identify the fake caller who used VOIP to place the call.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) allows to make voice calls using a broadband internet connection.
The Chandigarh police control room had received a call around 1 pm, claiming that a bomb had been planted in Elante Mall.
Following this, the UT Police and mall authorities used loudspeakers to ask people to leave the shopping complex. Panic had gripped the people as they started rushing out of the Mall premises, leading to chaos in the premises and nearby areas.
At that time, hundreds of people were in the mall that has a footfall in excess of one lakh people on holidays and weekends.
The police’s operation cell and its bomb disposal squad had sealed off the area and conducted a search operation for more than four hours. Bomb disposal team, anti-sabotage teams, operation cell teams, crime branch teams and local police teams also conducted intensive searches of the area around the mall.
As the bomb squad entered the Elante Mall to conduct the search, the reports first suggested it was a mock drill by police ahead of the Independence Day. However, the UT Police later clarified that it was not a mock drill and urged people to cooperate.
UT Senior Superintendent of Police Nilambari Jagdale , who was overseeing the search operation said that police control room had got a call saying there were explosives inside the mall.While making multiple appeals to people to maintain calm, she said that professional teams are on the job and intention is not to trouble anyone.
After the search operation in more than 200 shops in the complex besides the cinema halls in the Mall, the Chandigarh police stated that nothing was found and now they are turning their attention on the caller who made the hoax call.
Notably, the UT Police have been on high alert ahead of Independence Day.
In a statement issued, the Elante Mall management stated, “There was a report of an unclaimed object which turned out to be a bomb hoax, at the mall. It was a hoax call in view of the heightened security alert across the country.”
“All the people, including the shoppers and staff members, are absolutely safe. While the entire mall was evacuated in less than 20 minutes, 100 percent normalcy was restored in four hours. Since 5:30 PM, mall operations were restored,” the mall stated.