The police in Maharashtra’s Thane city on Thursday stepped up security around a synagogue after an email claimed that a bomb was planted there, which turned out to be a hoax, an official said.

According to a release by the police, the ‘Gate of Heaven’ synagogue, a place of worship for Jewish people, received an email around noon claiming that a bomb had been planted there.

After being alerted about the email, the police first evacuated the synagogue near the Civil Hospital, stopped the traffic on the road outside and shut shops in the locality as a precautionary measure, it said.

The police declared the email a hoax after the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) thoroughly checked the premises and did not find anything alarming there, the release said.

The police have registered a case and a probe is underway to track down those behind the hoax, the police said, adding security in the area has been tightened.

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