A 48-year-old man was arrested from Hyderabad Monday after the Google office in Pune received an alert about a suspected explosive device on its premises on Sunday. Teams from Pune police and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed to the office on Sunday night, but the call turned out to be a hoax, police said.
An overnight search was conducted at the Google office located on the 11th floor of the multi-storeyed commercial complex in Mundhwa, officers added. Teams from the BDDS, dog squad and the local police station were deployed for the sweep.
The Pune police said the search was launched after they received a call in this regard from the Google office at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai. “A call was made to the Google office in Mumbai from a Hyderabad number. The caller said there was an explosive device at the Google office in Pune. The Mumbai office informed the police about the call,” said Pune Police Commissioner Retesh Kumaarr.
He added, “An overnight search, supervised by senior officials, was conducted by multiple teams. The call turned out to be a hoax as nothing was found in the thorough search. Meanwhile, a person has been nabbed in Hyderabad for making the call.”
The police said the call was made between 7.54 pm and 8.15 pm on Sunday following which the employees alerted the Mumbai police and a case was registered at BKC police station.
An officer said, “As soon as the case got registered, we started working on the call data records and traced the caller to Chandnagar in Hyderabad in Telangana.” A team was then dispatched and the caller was taken into custody.
Investigators are trying to ascertain the reason behind the man’s actions. “So far, it appears that he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol. However, detailed interrogation is underway,” said Senior Police Inspector Vishram Abhyankar.
