CHENNAI: Police have arrested a 32-year-old man from Sunguvarchathiram near Sriperumbudur for allegedly making a hoax bomb threat to the Teynampet metro railway station.

The suspect, identified as Gnanamurthy, was traced through the mobile phone he used to place the threat call. Meanwhile, police are probing the hoax bomb threats sent to seven locations, including the residences of DMK MP Kanimozhi, auditor Gurumoorthy, former DGP and MLA R Nataraj, Naradha Gana Sabha, Periyar Thidal, and the ISKCON temple near Besant Nagar.

Police teams and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed to the sites and conducted extensive searches after which the threats were declared a hoax.

Police sources said that all the threats were sent via email to the state police headquarters in the name of a political functionary.

“We are actively tracing the origin of the hoax mail, and strict legal action will be taken against those responsible for spreading false information and attempting to cause public fear,” city police had said in an official statement last Tuesday (Sept 30) after an email threat to various consulates in the city.