Bengaluru: A person was arrested on Monday for making a hoax call about a bomb being planted in a mosque in Bengaluru. The accused was allegedly denied stay at the mosque following which he made the call.
The incident took place in city's Shivajinagar area. Syed Mohammad Anwar, 37, had called the police reporting a bomb at Azam mosque. Anwar was nabbed on Monday by the police from Telangana's Mehboobnagar. The accused is an unemployed science graduate who hails from Maharashtra.
He was seeking his livelihood on the pretext of collecting donations for madrassas. He arrived in Bengaluru on July 4. On July 5, the accused was staying near the Azam Masjid behind Russell Market in the Shivajinagar locality of the city. He was collecting money (donations) from the people of the nearby locality in the name of running a madrassa at the Azam mosque, police said.
Anwar had sought permission from the office-bearers of the mosque management committee for his stay arrangements. But the permission was not granted by the mosque staffers. Peeved over this, the accused went to the Majestic bus stand and boarded the Kurnool-bound bus to Andhra Pradesh. When the bus was crossing Devanahalli locality on the outskirts of Bengaluru city, he dialled the helpline number 112 and told police that someone had planted a bomb inside the Azam Masjid.
Upon receiving the information, police immediately rushed to the spot along with the bomb disposal as well as dog squads. After conducting a thorough search inside the mosque, no explosive substance was found on the premises.
Later, a case was registered and a manhunt was launched to arrest the accused. Based on mobile phone surveillance, the police found his location at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. Later his location was traced to Mehboobnagar in Telangana.
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