Bomb hoax at Google office in Pune; caller held

Google company's office in Maharashtra's Pune city was briefly put on alert after a call was received about a bomb in the premises which later turned out to be a hoax, police said on Monday.

A man, who allegedly made the call in an inebriated state, has been traced to Hyderabad and apprehended from there, they said.

Google's office located at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai received a call at 7.54 pm on Sunday that a bomb was kept at the company's Pune office, located on the 11th floor of a multi-storey commercial building in Mundhwa area here, an official said.

The company officials lodged a complaint with the BKC police who registered a first information report (FIR) against the then unidentified person Indian Penal Code Sections 505(1)(B) (intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to public) and 506 (criminal intimidation), he said.

The Mumbai Police subsequently shared the information with their Pune counterparts, the official said.

After being alerted, Pune police and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad reached the spot and carried out extensive searches, Pune Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone V) Vikrant Deshmukh said.

"The call later turned out to be a hoax. The caller has been traced to Hyderabad and apprehended. He allegedly made the call in an inebriated condition," the official said.

Further investigation is on into the incident, he added.