New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) and University College of Medical Science (UCMS) on Tuesday morning received bomb threats, which were later declared hoax, officials said.

The police said the threats mentioned that RDX, having a one-km blast radius, were planted in the three sites.

Immediate and coordinated action was taken under standard operating procedures (SOPs), with bomb detection and disposal teams (BDDT) pressed into service at the three sites. After thorough checking the bomb threats were declared hoax, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said, “Around 11 am, information was received from UCMS at GTB Hospital that they have received an email regarding the presence of a bomb in the collage premises.”

Immediately, in accordance with the SOP, college was vacated without creating any panic, he said.

The DCP added that the Bomb Dog Squad (BDS) was called and every corner of the building was checked. At 1.30 pm building was declared as cleared from danger and the threat was found to be hoax.

According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), a separate call regarding the threat was also received, following which multiple fire tenders were rushed to the spot as a precautionary measure.

DCP (Central) Nidhin Valsan, in a statement, said entire area of MAMC and CM Secretariat was screened. “The email turned out to be hoax. Legal action will be taken.”

“Senior officers, including additional DCP (central), ACP Kamla Market and SHO IP Estate, were present at the Secretariat overseeing anti-sabotage checks. At MAMC, the exercise was being supervised by the additional traffic officer (ATO) of IP Estate police station,” he said.

Appropriate measures were taken to ensure the safety and security of people present at both locations. There is no cause for panic, the DCP (Central) said.

The officer further said a team of the cyber police station is examining the origin of the email. The initial assessment has revealed similarities with previous hoax threat emails.

“Preliminary findings indicate the message may have actually been intended for a location in another state. However, we are treating it with utmost seriousness and all SOPs are being followed,” he added.

UCMS College officials said they received a threat email this morning and informed the police. Authorities thoroughly checked every corner of the college building, but didn’t find anything suspicious and vacated the premises around 3 pm.

Earlier, the collage issued a notice stating: “This is to share that the college has received an email regarding bomb threat in college this afternoon. The college is taking all precautionary measures for the safety in this regard. We are therefore, suspending, all the classes for students in the college building; and the students and staff are requested to vacate the college building to ensure safety of all.

According to the police, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), traffic police and Special Cell assisted in the quick response. Entry and exit points were secured and access was restricted during the verification exercise.

All security drills were carried out with due diligence. Such threat emails, even if they are hoaxes, cannot be taken lightly, an officer said.

This incident follows a spate of hoax threat emails received in several schools and educational institutes in recent months, prompting heightened vigilance among security agencies. 

New Delhi: Former vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday extended greetings to his successor C P Radhakrishnan, saying that the office of the vice president will attain greater glory with his vast experience.

This was Dhankhar’s first public statement since demitting office in July.

On Tuesday, NDA nominee Radhakrishnan won the vice presidential election by bagging 452 votes, while Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy polled 300 votes.

In a letter to Radhakrishnan, Dhankhar said Your elevation to this august office reflects the trust and confidence by the representatives of our nation.

He said given Radhakrishnan’s vast experience in public life, under his stewardship, the office would “certainly attain greater veneration and glory.

In a surprise move, Dhankhar had quit as the vice president on July 21 citing health issues. His sudden resignation led to the fresh vice presidential polls.

Chamrajnagar: An unusual incident was reported from Bommalapura village in Gundlupet taluk, where angry villagers locked forest officials inside an iron cage that had been set up to trap a tiger.

For the past few days, people living in Bommalapura and other villages along the Bandipur forest boundary have been troubled by the presence of a tiger in the area. Villagers had repeatedly appealed to the Bandipur National Park authorities and tiger reserve staff to capture the animal, citing safety concerns.

Acting on these complaints, the forest department had placed a cage in Bommalapura to capture the tiger. However, the big cat did not fall into the trap, leaving the villagers frustrated.

On Friday, when forest officials visited the village again, the angry residents decided to lock them inside the very cage meant for the tiger. Reports say the officials were taken aback and pleaded with the villagers to release them. 

Jammu: The death toll in the Vaishno Devi landslide has gone up to 32, officials said on Wednesday, a day after disaster struck the route on the hilltop shrine in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

At least 20 people were injured in the landslide triggered by heavy, relentless rain, the officials said.

The pilgrimage to the shrine was suspended when the mountainside literally gave way and stones, boulders and rocks came hurtling down around 3 pm on Tuesday, catching people unawares.

The landslide struck at a point about halfway along the winding 12-km trek from Katra to the shrine.

There are two routes up to the shrine — while the yatra had been suspended on the Himkoti trek route since morning, it was going on on the old route till 1.30 pm when authorities decided to suspend it till further orders in view of the torrential rain.

 Two college students here were attacked by stray dogs on Tuesday and have been hospitalised, said a city civic body official.

The incident occurred inside the Jnanabharathi campus, near Kengeri.

The students were identified as Sujanya G J from Haveri and Rega Nikshitha from Telangana, both pursuing Integrated MSc in Economics at Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics, situated inside the Jnanabharathi campus.

Suralkar Vikas Kishor, Special Commissioner, Health and Sanitation Department, BBMP confirmed that the students were admitted in a nearby private hospital with dog bite injuries.

They are fine now.

But I am not very sure of the exact details of the case. We are awaiting a detailed veterinary report said Kishor.

He said it was suspected that a pack of dogs attacked the students.

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other INDIA bloc members seen wearing T-shirts featuring the name Minta Devi

Patna: The Election Commission has made me a grandma, said Minta Devi, suppressing a laugh, on a day opposition MPs led by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra staged a demonstration in the national capital with her name and photo printed on their shirts.

If the draft electoral rolls in Bihar were to be believed, the “first time” voter, at “124 years”, could well be the oldest in the state, where more than 7 crore electors will be exercising their franchise in a couple of months.

“How can I be blamed for the goof-up? I had filled up my enumeration form online, after having waited in vain for a visit by the booth-level officer,” said the 35-year-old, whose name is now trending on social media.

However, the Siwan district administration has issued a statement, claiming that the would-be voter of the Daraunda assembly segment has been contacted and remedial steps were taken well before the anomaly made headlines.

According to a statement issued by the collectorate of Siwan, “An application was obtained from Minta Devi on August 10 for rectifying the error, to which her attention was drawn by the BLO. It will be dealt with during the claims and objections phase (of special intensive revision of electoral rolls)”.

The matter has come to light at a time when parties opposed to the ruling NDA are assailing the special intensive revision (SIR), in the Parliament as well as the Supreme Court.

Minta Devi, however, is enjoying a good laugh.

“I am thrilled that, finally, at the age of 35, I may get a chance to cast my vote. Many polls have passed since I became eligible but somehow my name never made it to the voters’ list. If the EC has made me a grandma (daadi bana diya) in the process, it is fine with me. I have nothing to fear. I had stated my year of birth as 1990, the same as in my Aadhar card. I cannot help it if in the draft rolls 1990 has been made 1900,” she told reporters.

Meanwhile, social media was left abuzz with users raising doubts over two centenarians, both women, figuring in the voters’ list for another assembly constituency.

The election officials were left coming out with statements asserting that Farzana Khatun and Asha Devi, both voters of Pirpainti assembly segment in Bhagalpur district, were, in fact, 120 years old.

The EC, however, did not respond to the claim, in a section of the media that the two centenarians were also registered as “first-time voters”.