Serial hoax caller held in Delhi; called for 'thrills'

New Delhi: The capital's 'serial hoax caller' was arrested from the premises of a hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday from where he was making another "mischievous" call for "cheap thrill".

Kanta Prasad (45), hailing from Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh and presently residing in Najafgarh, was caught from a telephone booth in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital at around 4 pm while he was making a call, a senior police official said.

Prasad, working as a supplier in a gas agency in Najafgarh, came to the RML hospital on Tuesday and again Wednesday evening only to make calls to police claiming that bombs were kept in prominent buildings, the official said.

"He has no relative or friend admitted to RML. He came there only to make the hoax calls. He got thrilled at people and police running around after making the call. He did it for cheap thrill," the official said.

Police had deployed personnel in plainclothes near the telephone booth from where at least 11 calls, which included five calls that got disconnected, were made on Tuesday claiming bombs were planted at prominent places.

A series of hoax calls claiming bombs have been kept at crowded places created panic in the capital, keeping policemen on their toes.

The Central Police Control Room (PCR) received five calls in a span of four hours and 14 minutes on Tuesday but after extensive searches, all the calls were declared hoax.