Taj Mahal evacuated after bomb threat call

An unidentified man called the UP Police that a bomb was kept at the Taj Mahal which will soon explode.

The Taj Mahal was briefly closed on Thursday after authorities received a bomb threat from an unidentified man which later turned out to be a hoax call. More than 1,000 tourists were present in the monument when the call was received and the authorities soon evacuated the premises and shut it briefly. ADG Agra Zone Rajeev Krishna said that no explosives of any kind were found during the search operation. 

Entry to tourists was resumed at around 11:15 am. "We have received information from the control room that a man called them up saying that a bomb is kept at the Taj Mahal which will explode soon. The security check is being done around Taj Mahal," Shiv Ram Yadav, SP (Protocol) Agra said. After the police received the call, they informed the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel who started the evacuation.

The call has been traced to Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh. The Inspector General (IG) of Agra, Satish Ganesh said that an unknown person called on UP 112 and said there will be a bomb blast at the Taj Mahal. He assured that 99 percent it was a hoax call but they were following the drill.