A hoax bomb call demanding the arrest of chief minister by a 35-year-old mentally challenged man from Kadapa sent the police on a wild goose chase.

On July 8, Suddaguntepalya police constable Lokesh S P around 11.10 am received a call from a mobile on the station landline.

The caller told in Telugu that there was a bomb near Silk Board and asked the police to arrest Kumaraswamy immediately. When Lokesh asked the caller does he know who Kumaraswamy was, the called said Kumaraswamy is Karnataka chief minister and asked the police to arrest him. He told that he was from Kadapa.

The police rushed to Silk Board Junction, called canine squad, bomb disposal squad to check for the bomb. After sanitizing the area for four hours, the police concluded that it was a hoax call.

Meanwhile, another team of police began to track the caller. Initially, the phone was switched off. But after repeated attempts, the police managed to track him down and nabbed him from Suddaguntepalya.

The accused was identified as Karimulla. The investigation revealed that he was mentally ill. He had come from Kadapa to the city for treatment and was staying with his sister Suddaguntepalya.

After checking his medical records, the police confirmed that he was suffering from mental illness.

The accused told the police that he was watching television on Monday and during his morning walk, he noticed a signboard at the police station with phone number and then called the police.