A prominent hotel in Mumbai received a hoax bomb threat on the evening of Monday, 22 August, the Mumbai Police said.
An unidentified man reportedly called The Lalit Hotel in Mumbai and asked for Rs 5 crore to diffuse the bombs, which he claimed were placed at four locations in the hotel, officials said.
A case was registered under sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code.
The call came a few days after the Mumbai police received the threat of a 26/11 like terror attack, allegedly from a Pakistani number. The report added that a probe was launched after several WhatsApp messages were allegedly received by the Mumbai Police traffic control on Friday, 19 August.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Pahsalkar said, “We are not taking the threat lightly. Any call we receive, we treat it seriously. In the past, several of them have turned out to be hoaxes.”
While one of the WhatsApp messages said that six people were going to undertake an attack, another said that preparations were underway to blast Mumbai in a way which will bring back memories of 26/11.
Mumbai was also on high-alert last week after a suspicious boat with weapons was found in the sea off the Indian coast in Maharashtra. Three AK-47 rifles and 600 rounds were found in the boat, along with some important documents, the police said.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that the boat had come towards the Konkan coast in a half-broken condition due to a high tide.
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