PONDA
A hoax bomb threat caused panic among officials and students at the IIT Goa complex in Farmagudi on Thursday.
According to reports, an email was sent at about 4 am to the IIT office located in Goa College of Engineering premises in Farmagudi, stating that a bomb had been planted in the IIT building. The IIT officials informed the Ponda police at about 10.30 am and Ponda DySP Shivram Waingankar, Police Inspector Vijayanath Kavalekar along with a police team rushed to the spot and evacuated the students and staff who were studying in IIT and other classes.
Incidentally, the exams of the IIT students was scheduled to begin from 2 pm and a number of students had been awake till about 4-5 am preparing for their exams, before going to sleep.
However at about 11 am, the police woke up the sleeping students and took them out of the campus.
Ponda Fire Officer Ajit Kamat, Sushil Morajkar and other officers of Goa College of Engineering were also present at the spot. A bomb disposal squad pressed into service searched the entire premises of the GEC but found no bomb. The students and staff of the IIT were later allowed to enter the building after a clearance from the bomb disposal squad.
Police are on the lookout for the person who had sent the email about the bomb hoax.
