Manipal: Residents enjoying their weekend in this hilltop town were shaken for some time when rumours of a ‘bomb’ found in a students’ hostel made rounds on Sunday, Jan 11.
Near the Nehru block of the KMC hostel, beeps were heard from a trash bin around 9 am. The sound was mistaken for that of a detonator ticking away. With the reports of bomb blasts around all over the country, caution was the buzzword.
The security personnel were alerted and they in turn informed the police. Bomb detection squad, canine squad and others arrived with metal detectors and other equipment.
When a search was made in the trash bin, a cellphone was found wrapped in a polythene bag. Earlier, a student named Joseph had complained of loss of his cellphone. He had stated in his complaint to the police that he was not sure where he had lost it but possibly it might have gone with the trash disposed of.
The police took the cellphone with them and asked the student to report at the station on Monday. Sheer negligence by way of casting off his handset with other trash caused tension to prevail around for a few hours.