Bomb threat to Tirupati's Sri Venkateswara University

Tirupati, Oct 6 (IANS) Sri Venkateswara University received a bomb threat on Monday, prompting an extensive search by the police. The threat, however, proved to be a hoax.

The university authorities received an email that five IEDs have been planted at the helipad on the university campus.

The helipad was prepared by the authorities for Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who will be arriving here on Tuesday.

Alerted by the university authorities, police swung into action to search for explosives. Police teams with the help of sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squads searched the campus and helipad but found no explosives.

Police launched an investigation to identify the sender of the email.

Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to visit his native village, Naravaripalli, on Tuesday. He will be landing at the SV University campus before proceeding to the village by road.

Hotels and a temple in Tirupati had received similar bomb threats in the name of terrorist groups last year.

Seven hotels and the Varadaraja temple in the town received emails stating that bombs were planted on their premises. After the management of the hotels and the temple informed the police, the law enforcement agencies, with the help of sniffer dogs and bomb disposal squads, searched the premises but found no explosives.

For three days, the management of various hotels had received emails stating that a bomb had been planted in the hotels. Police, with the help of a dog squad, thoroughly searched the premises but found nothing suspicious.

The threatening emails were received in the name of Jaffer Sadiq and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

Jaffer Sadiq, a former member of Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK, was arrested in February last year by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on charges of smuggling narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

--IANS

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