JOIN USThe Whitefield Police rushed to the spot, along with a bomb detection and disposal squad, and conducted a thorough search. A KSRP platoon was also deployed near the hospital. The situation was back to normal after the police sanitised the entire area and confirmed that it was a hoax threat.
Triggering the panic was a paper displayed on the notice board which stated that a bomb had been planted and would go off anytime after 12 noon. Nearly, 50 policemen from different police stations were pressed into service to control the situation.
Monday being an outpatients’ day, there were around 1,000 people in the hospital. “We deployed more policemen to prevent a possible stampede,” said the police.
Following the hoax threat, many patients were shifted and treated outside the hospital building. Dr Anju Manchanda, administrative officer, Vydehi Hospital, told Deccan Herald, “The threat call did not have any impact on patients in the ICU. However, patients in the general ward were shifted. Surgeries which began before the news spread went on smoothly. But nearly 15 to 20 surgeries, which were scheduled between 9 am and 12 pm, were performed later,” she said.
There were two notices pasted, one in the hospital and another in the medical college. The notices read, “If you wish to be alive, vacate this place in three hours. There is a disaster waiting to happen anytime after 12 pm. Do not think it is a joke.”
Manchanda suspected the students from the medical college to have played the mischief. She said many students had less attendance and could not attend exam- inations. Hence, some of them might have pasted the poster to create anxiety inside the hospital and college, she said.
Although the hospital and college have installed CCTVs, the areas selected to paste the posters do not come under the CCTV coverage, Manchanda said.