Hoax call: The Mumbai police stepped up vigil after it received a hoax call about three terrorists having entered the city on Saturday.
According to the officials, the police's main control room received a call on Friday in which the caller claimed that a probable terrorist had entered the city, following which the information was shared with senior officials and the vigil was increased.
The caller identified himself as Raja Thonge and said he was speaking from Pune, an official said. The caller told police that three terrorists from Dubai with a Pakistan connection sneaked into Mumbai in the early hours (on Friday), the official said.
The caller told the police that the "terrorist" trio was involved in illegal activities and also provided the registration number of the vehicle they are purportedly using, he said.
"Police increased vigil after receiving the call. Apart from teams of local police, the crime branch was also roped in for investigation," the official said.
Meanwhile, the caller switched off his mobile phone after some time as police tried to track down the phone number, which was found to be registered in the name of a man from Ashti in Beed district, the official said.
A police team went to Ashti and questioned the man who claimed the phone number from which the call was made didn't belong to him and that he didn't know about any terrorists.
"Nothing suspicious was found after verification and the call was declared a hoax," the official added.
A case was registered against unidentified persons for providing false information under sections 505 (1), 505 (2), and 182 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Azad Maidan police station in south Mumbai. A search is on for the caller, the official said.
Mumbai witnessed deadly terror attack when ten Pakistani terrorists struck on November 26, 2008, killing 166 people and injuring more than 300 in four days, before nine of them were shot dead.
(With inputs from PTI)
