RAWALPINDI: A bomb hoax in a hotel created panic in the Saddar area on Saturday.

Police informed the management of Pearl Continental (PC) Hotel that a bomb had been planted on its premises.

The police and the district administration carried out a search operation on the premises of the hotel for four hours.

The police said they were informed by the interior ministry that a bomb had been planted in the hotel. The Special Branch of the police, bomb disposal department, civil defence and the district administration reached the hotel.

“We got general information that there would be an explosion on the hotel premises and we reached the site at 12 noon. All the departments carried out the search operation with detectors but found nothing,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Civil Lines Farhan Aslam.

He said the teams also searched the customers in the hotel due to the fact that the building is located near sensitive installations and offices.

He said though it was a hoax, the police were able to check their preparedness.

When contacted, a spokesman for PC hotel, Asad Shah, said: “Our customer care service did not affect and the hotel continued working during the search operation.”

He said being located at a prime location, the security of the hotel was always on a high alert.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2016