Bomb threat at Kochi Metro followed by threat at Thampanoor KSRTC bus terminal; Pathanamthitta native accused in six other criminal cases

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The accused who gave a fake threat message that a bomb had been planted at the Thampanoor KSRTC bus terminal has been arrested. The Thampanoor police have arrested Harilal, a native of Koipuram, Pathanamthitta, who is accused in six criminal cases. He was arrested by the Thampanoor police while the Kochi Central police were searching for him in the case of making a bomb threat at the Kochi Metro.

The shopkeeper of the hotel where Harilal worked at the Thampanoor bus terminal had assaulted Harilal and dismissed him from his job. Harilal has stated that he had made the fake bomb threat at the terminal out of anger over this.

Months ago, the employees of the Kochi Metro had assaulted Harilal for not taking a platform ticket. Harilal said that this anger is what led to the bomb threat at the Kochi Metro.

The bomb threat reached the police control room at 12.30 pm on May 24. The message was found to be fake upon examination. A subsequent investigation conducted by Cybercell focusing on the phone number revealed that the phone, which had been turned off near Wellington Island in Kochi, had been turned on once later. When the call list was checked, it was found that the shopkeeper from Thampanoor had called Harilal on the day of the incident. The police then got the shopkeeper to call Harilal and tell him to return for work and arrested Harilal when he reached Thampanoor.