Visakhapatnam: A woman was arrested by at Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district on Wednesday for sending messages to the Chief Minister, a minister and some police officers that a bomb was planted in a bank and EVM strong rooms.
Police identified the woman as R. Sriranjani, 40, from Seethanagaram village in Anakapalle mandal.
Sriranjani is a community activist in Velugu and handles about 35 clusters that implement government welfare schemes. The funds to implement these schemes are credited in the Grameena Vikas Bank.
Police said that the bank manager Kiran Kumar withheld the funds in her account due to pending loans. She was told that the funds would only be released if the loans were cleared.
Following this, Sriranjani threatened him that she would make a scene unless the money was released.
When the banker refused to yield to her threats, Sriranjani stole a SIM card from her friend’s mobile. On April 19, she has purchased a mobile phone with a fake signature and a fictitious name.
Sriranjani then collected the mobile phone numbers of the Chief Minister, ministers and top police officers from the Internet and sent messages to these numbers that bombs were planted in the said bank and various EVM strong rooms across the state.
In the backdrop of serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka, the police swung into action and traced the origins of the messages.
The police registered a case on Tuesday and arrested Sriranjani on Wednesday after a thorough investigation.
Anakapalle DSP S.V.V. Prasad Rao said, “We registered a case under 67 (C), 67 (D) and 67 (F) of the Information Technology Act along with IPC Sections 380, 420 and 467. She messaged Chief Minister and ministers along with some of the police officers in the state.”
