Thursday, March 10 2005 16:32 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: IT major Wipro is considering strong action against an employee who created a bomb hoax scare at its office in central Bangalore, triggering panic in the city.

"Appropriate action is being taken against him," a Wipro spokesperson told sources in Bangalore.

She declined comment on whether the employee, Prashant Kumar, will be asked to leave the firm.

Thirty-year-old Kumar was detained by police yesterday (March 9, 2005) after a phone call to his supervisor in the morning about the false bomb alarm from a public coin booth led the trail to the software engineer.

Police had to evacuate scores of employees from the Wipro Technologies office on M G Road during a search with a bomb squad and sniffer dogs but found nothing.

The false alarm had triggered panic, which came close on the heels of Delhi police uncovering a plot by Lashkar-e-Toiba militants to attack software firms in Bangalore.

The city police early this week recovered arms and ammunition including a stun gun and 149 live bullets at the Cantonment railway station in Bangalore.

Karnataka Chief Minister Dharam Singh has assured protection for software firms following the threat, while surveillance had increased in many sensitive locations.