A PG medic wanted to skip a seminar. So she issued a hoax bomb threat

MANGALURU: Mangaluru police on Saturday arrested a postgraduate medical student, Chalasani Monica Choudary, for making a hoax bomb threat call to a private hospital.City police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H said preliminary investigation revealed the accused made the hoax call on June 4 to trigger a scare so that she could avoid making a presentation at a seminar scheduled on that day.To mislead the authorities, Choudary herself filed a complaint regarding the threat. Based on technical data analysis, police later identified the complainant as the hoax caller.Around 8:45 am on Wednesday, the hospital received a call from an identified caller claiming that a bomb was planted on the premises and that the hospital must be evacuated by 11am. Thereafter, there were at least four similar calls, triggering panic among the hospital staff and patients.Following the alert, 25-30 police personnel, including members of the bomb detection, disposal squad and dog squad, rushed to the hospital and thoroughly searched its premises, including the parking, and surrounding areas. However, no explosives were found.A case has been registered under multiple sections of BNS at Ullal police station. Police have recorded Choudary's statement and seized her mobile phone for further investigation.