Pune: A 29-year-old security guard was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly sending bomb threat messages to two doctors at Sassoon General Hospital using a stolen mobile phone. The accused, identified as Arvind Krishna Kokani, was working on contract at the hospital.
According to Senior Inspector Ravindra Gaikwad of Bund Garden police, Kokani had stolen a cellphone belonging to a female patient admitted in ward no. 73. Using the stolen device, he sent a threatening text to a hospital doctor on May 12, falsely claiming that a bomb had been planted on the premises. He then switched off the phone to avoid detection.
Kokani reportedly repeated the act on May 14, sending a similar bomb scare message to the hospital’s medical superintendent before switching the phone off again.
Following the threats, a team led by Sub-Inspector Swapnil Lohar launched a technical investigation to trace the origin of the messages. They eventually tracked the phone’s activity back to Kokani, leading to his arrest.
Police said Kokani admitted to sending the messages, stating he was “not in a proper state of mind” at the time.
He was presented in court and remanded to 14 days of magisterial custody. He has since been lodged at Yerawada Central Prison.
