India
Taj Mahal briefly shut after hoax bomb threat call
The iconic Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh's Agra was briefly shut and all tourists were immediately evacuated after the UP Police received a bomb threat call this morning. Reports say that an unidentified person claimed that an explosive device had been planted inside the monument premises, which later proved to be a hoax. Here are more details on this.
Agra Police, CISF, bomb disposal squad rushed to spot
After the said call, a team of Agra Police and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which protects the monument, as well as a bomb disposal squad, rushed to the spot and launched a search operation inside the Taj premises. Over 1,000 tourists were asked to vacate the premises and all the entry and exit points of the monument were temporarily closed.
Call was made from UP's Ferozabad
Reportedly, the call was made from UP's Ferozabad and efforts are underway to trace the caller. No suspicious item was found at the Taj Mahal and the monument was opened again for tourists around 11:15 am. "A man called them up saying that a bomb is kept at the Taj Mahal which will explode soon (sic)," Shiv Ram Yadav, SP (Protocol) Agra, said.
99% chances this is a hoax call, IG had said
"The call came on UP 112. He said there is a bomb planted at the premises of the Taj Mahal. Immediately, we pressed our teams into action. No explosive has been found yet. We are also trying to trace the caller," Agra IG, A Satish Ganesh, had said. "There are 99 percent chances this is a hoax call. But we are following the drill."
The Taj was shut for months, reopened last September
Taj Mahal, the 17th-century monument which attracts millions of visitors each year, remained closed for tourists for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic last year. It was reopened in September 2020 with strict COVID-19 safety guidelines in place. The Taj and other monuments in Agra make the city a popular tourist destination and contribute greatly to the revenue of Uttar Pradesh.
