Hoax call to blow up Taj Mahal sends Agra cops into tizzy, tourists asked to leave premises

LUCKNOW: In response to a threat call to blow up the Taj Mahal, the Agra police swung into action and around 1000 tourists present on the premises of the monument were asked to leave before carrying out an extensive search operation of two hours on Thursday morning.

The caller was traced to Firozabad where he was arrested. According to Agra SP, Protocol, Shiv Ram Yadav, the caller had informed the police 112 control room in Agra on Thursday morning that a bomb was planted on the Taj Mahal premises to blow up the monument of love. However, after a search, the call was found to be a hoax and the caller was nabbed in Firozabad. His identity was being established, said the police official.

After being briefly closed, the monument again allowed tourists at around 11.15 am. No explosive was found during the searches, ADG Agra Zone Rajeev Krishna confirmed.

The threat call, which was received in the morning hours, sent authorities into a tizzy. A bomb disposal squad and the CISF team along with the officials of ASI rushed to the spot and checking began. The western and the eastern gates of the monument were immediately closed and the tourists were asked to move out.

"We had received information from the control room that a man called them up saying that a bomb is kept at the Taj Mahal which will explode soon. The security check was being done around Taj Mahal," Shiv Ram Yadav, SP (Protocol) Agra said, adding that the man also claimed that he would blow up the Taj as he failed to get selected in a military recruitment drive allegedly due to discrimination.