Nabanna, the West Bengal state secretariat, received a call threatening to blow up the building with a bomb. However, the police confirmed that the call was a hoax.
Around 3 pm on Thursday, just after the threat call was received, several teams of the Bomb Disposal Squad, Dog Squad, Special Task Force (STF), Special Branch (SB) and other officials of Detective Department (DD) immediately rushed to the spot. Senior officials of Kolkata Police including the Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police (Intelligence) Pallab Kanti Ghosh reached the spot to take stock of the situation.
The area outside the building was cordoned off and the parking lots and backyards were thoroughly checked. The terrace and every floor of the building was checked with great care but the police did not find any trace of explosives. The building was later evacuated for security measures.
When the threat call was received, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was chairing a meeting on the 14th floor of the building. Other ministers and secretaries were also present when the search operation was underway.
“Nabanna bomb scare is a hoax call. Efforts are on to track the caller. Our SB, DD teams along with the Bomb Disposal Squad and sniffer dogs have been searched and nothing has been found,” said Supratim Sarkar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) said.
