Rajkot, July 03: An 18-year-old son of a police constable was nabbed by Gujarat Railway police for making a bomb hoax call in Rajkot.
The Special Operations Group of Western Railways, Vadodara division, played a key role in tracking down the teenager, who had got the police on their toes by making bomb hoax call.
Rahul Laiya, a first-year student of Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) studying in SDA Medical College in Ranchi was at home in Jamnagar during the summer vacations.
Here, he came across a disposed sim card and planned to use it in making free calls.
In an attempt to have some fun, Rahul started making calls on unknown numbers playing pranks. However on Monday, his prank calls took a serious turn when he called up a Patan-based businessman and spoke to him about bombs planted in Rajkot.
“He spoke to the businessman in Hindi,” said Police Sub Inspector J N Panchal, SOG, Western Railways.
The man in turn alerted the Rajkot police. While heavy security was deployed in the city, the Rajkot Railway police was alerted as well.
Vigorous combing exercise was undertaken in the city under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner of Police Mayank Chavda. Search operations were carried out at important public places like theaters, hospitals, malls, government buildings, parks and gardens.
“Rajkot police had started to track the phone number of the caller, too. Since, the sim card with Rahul still offered free call service, Rahul was still using it to make calls further. He switched it off a day later,” said Panchal.
However, Rajkot Police came to know that he had boarded Porbandar- Howrah Express. After the train crossed Anand, the investigation was carried forward by Vadodara Railway Police.
“His vacation was over and he was going back to Ranchi in Porbandar- Howrah Express. We were informed on Wednesday evening that he was still there in the train. We had no other identification of the person. After we received confirmed details of the coach number and the berth. The train was finally stopped at Vyara station where we started a massive search. We finally tracked him down at Amalner station near Nandurbar after midnight,” said Panchal.
Rahul was then brought to Vadodara for interrogation where he accepted all the charges. “I used to make prank calls on unknown numbers. But it was the first time I made a bomb hoax call to scare the person and have some fun. I had made the call at around 11 pm when I was all alone in my room,” said Rahul.
Rahul’s father Naran Laiya is a police constable at Dhraul police station in Jamnagar. Rahul will be handed over to Rajkot Police.
The police further said the sim used by Rahul was registered in the name of a migrant laborer.
However, it was found that he had stopped using the number for a long time.
-Agencies