Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (RJP)

Udupi, Jan 12: The news of the presence of a bomb in a dustbin created tension here for hours before it was dismissed as a hoax.

The incident happened near Nehru block hostel where the dustbin for disposal of garbage was kept. Some people noticed funny noise in the dustbin at around 9 am on Sunday. They informed the security immediately. They themselves came to a ‘conclusion’ that it was a bomb as the noise was like that of the noise which came from a ‘time bomb’. Nobody knows if any of them had actually seen a time bomb ever.

Manipal police were also informed. They came with bomb squad with all the equipment connected to the bomb detection. They found a BlackBerry mobile phone in the dustbin when their search for bomb ended.

The bomb scare lasted for about three hours. A lot of people had gathered by then.

The mobile phone belonged to a person named Joseph, a MBBS student. He had already complained about his missing phone. The noise came from the dustbin was in fact the ringtone from the mobile.

The police did not go back empty-handed - they took away the mobile phone. Joseph says he would get it back from them on Monday January 12. Nobody knows how the mobile landed in the bin.