Police arrest AJK resident for threatening to bomb Metro station

Officials say caller claimed the call was a prank

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi police have claimed to have arrested and booked a suspect who had allegedly threatened to bomb the command and control centre of the Metro Bus Authority and its Saddar station earlier in December.

In a call on December 18, the suspect had allegedly warned that bombs had been placed at the metro bus station in Saddar. As a result, the metro bus office and the station were evacuated, causing great difficulties for passengers.

At the time, the Rawalpindi district administration and the police had termed the suspension of the bus service and heavy deployment of forces as part of a snap security drill.

According to the case registered by SI Asghar Ali, police on December 18 received information from the Metro Bus Authority in Rawalpindi that an unidentified man had called from a cellular phone and had threatened to bomb the Saddar station and the main office of the Metro Bus Authority (MBA).

Upon receiving the information, the MBA suspended its operations and evacuated all of its stations. The bomb disposal squad then swept the station. After a three and a half hour operation, the information was declared as false since no explosive devices were found.

The authorities traced and identified the caller and arrested him who said that the call was a prank.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2018.