Railway police carry out security drill at stations

“We carried out the joint drill on Friday in view of the recent serial blasts in Sri Lanka. There was no specific threat. It was a drill. We wanted to know if we are prepared to face any kind of eventuality,” railway DIG V Balakrishnan told this newspaper.

The police teams checked passengers and their baggage at the exit and entry points besides the access points.

The police were not looking for any seizure on Friday. “It was our exercise to find out about the manpower and equipment we needed and bring in possible improvement,” the officer said. The police not only checked the passengers and trains but also the entire railway station premises where one can possibly plant explosives, he added.

Police sources also noted that there was another input from Bengaluru about possible ‘blasts’ in trains running in south India. “The alert from Bengaluru came as the security drill was on,” an official noted adding that no explosive was found in any trains in Tamil Nadu.

City police on Friday said that they have identified the person who made a hoax bomb threat call to the control room on Thursday warning of explosives planted at Koyambedu bus terminus. He is a native of Thoothukudi, now residing at Koyambedu. We are on the lookout for him, police said. “The hoax call created a flutter because of the recent serial blasts in Sri Lanka,” police said. The man claimed that he was behind bomb blasts in the island nation, and added that he has planted bombs in Koyambedu bus terminus.