New Delhi: In the sixth such incident in 45 days, an anonymous caller Saturday warned of a bomb being planted at a Delhi Metro station but it turned out to be a hoax.

Panic spread at the Chawri Bazar station and train services were suspended for 22 minutes after the Hauz Qazi police station received a call at around 2.30 p.m. saying a bomb had been planted at the station.

“The police and the paramilitary forces started the combing operation at around 2.45 p.m. and it continued for 67 minutes after which the call was declared to be a hoax,” said Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal.

Bomb disposal teams and dog squads were rushed to the spot to conduct searches around the station premises.

“Though the search lasted over an hour, train services were suspended only for 22 minutes. It has led to huge public inconvenience,” Dayal added.

"We are trying to identify the caller. The call was made from a PCO (payphone booth) at the Kashmiri Gate Metro station," a police officer said.

This was the sixth bomb scare at the Chawri Bazaar Metro station, on the Central Secretariat-Delhi University line, in the last 45 days. All the previous five were attributed to prank calls.

Delhi Metro, the capital's modern mass transport system, currently ferries over 600,000 passengers a day on its 68-km network. Construction work is underway to add another 120 km to the network.

Source : IANS