Hoax bomb threat at commercial tax office

Mysuru: Work at the commercial tax department office on Bidaram Krishnappa road in the central business district was disrupted on Wednesday for nearly two hours following a hoax bomb threat by unknown persons.
The miscreants warned of a bomb explosion between 12 noon and 1pm. Police rushed to the spot with a dog squad and scanned the building. Later it was confirmed that it was a hoax call, police said.
High drama unfolded after a letter warning of a bomb explosion at the office of the Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes between 12pm and 1pm was dropped near the office on Dewan’s Road. Immediately locals alerted Devaraja police, who carried out an inspection after sending all the staff out of the office. The inspection started around 11.45am.
After nearly two hours of the inspection, it was confirmed that it was a hoax bomb threat.
Commercial taxes department joint director Manjunath said, “Around 11.30am, we were informed about this letter by a police constable. The details of the office mentioned in the letter were correct. Around 80 staff and officers were working in the office. A few of us stopped a meeting in half and came out to enable inspection.”
As the road was blocked, general public faced some inconvenience.
Checking CCTV footage
No explosive materials were found at the office. We suspect that it is a hoax threat. We are reviewing CCTV footage of the location where the letter was found. We are investigating from all angles including what would be the purpose of keeping such a letter and who will benefit by such an act.
Pradeep Gunti, deputy commissioner of police (law and order), Mysuru