Ex-employee makes bomb threat call to eatery to avenge dismissal

Bengaluru: To avenge his dismissal, a former employee of an eatery in East Bengaluru made a bomb threat call to the owner late Wednesday night. After a thorough search of the eatery, the call was declared a hoax, police said.

Murugan alias Velu was a staffer in Indiranagar’s Pasta Street, which has several branches in the city. Velu was fired over his disinterested attitude during working hours, according to the police.

On Wednesday night, after a couple of drinks, Velu dialled the eatery's branch at Whitefield main road within the Mahadevapura police station limits and claimed to have planted a bomb on the premises. The branch owner alerted the police about the call.

Bomb and canine squads and anti-sabotage teams were quickly pressed into service and a search operation was launched at the eatery. No explosives were found after an extensive search and the police declared the threat a hoax.

Police traced Velu and arrested him. A senior police officer said that Velu had picked up a fight at the Indiranagar branch after he was removed from the job. Police have booked him for criminal intimidation. They are also planning to register a complaint from the eatery's management for his fight with them.