India: Taj Mahal vacated, tourists evacuated after hoax bomb call
The Taj was reopened for tourists last September with strict coronavirus safety guidelines
New Delhi: The Taj Mahal complex in Agra was vacated on Thursday morning following a hoax bomb call, officials said.
They said an unidentified person called the 112 emergency response number of the Uttar Pradesh police at around 9 am and claimed that a bomb was kept inside the monument that is conserved by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and protected by armed personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The Uttar Pradesh police immediately informed the CISF personnel, who asked the visitors to vacate the premises of the iconic 17th-century monument and launched anti-sabotage checks around 9:15 am.
"Nothing suspicious has been found and the checks are almost done," a senior CISF officer said in Delhi.
The hoax call has been traced to Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, another officer said.
