Title - Hoax bomb threat delays Vaigai Express

The Chennai bound Vaigai Express which departs from Madurai was scanned thoroughly after an anonymous call tipped off the security personnel about a bomb being planted inside the train. The incident took place on Wednesday.

The caller had used a mobile phone to alert the Government Railway Police (GRP) helpline number – 9962500500. Security personnel jumped to the task of searching for possible explosives as soon as the call was made. After an hour and a half of rigorous searching which yielded nothing, it dawned on them that the caller was probably playing a prank and they dismissed it as a hoax call.

The price for this cruel joke was paid by the passengers of the train who were not only inconvenienced when they were asked to disembark from the train so that the bomb search teams, sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squads could do their job but they were also delayed by a huge time because of all this.

The police team however did not give up at that. They were suspicious of malice and hence, as a precautionary measure, the escort parties were sent with three detective dogs of the RPF, in the express train right up to the Chengalpattu Junction.