GHAZIABAD: A 15-year-old boy battling social and economic hardships at home and angry with the law-keepers made a series of hoax calls to police two days before Republic Day The boy's calls and emails saying he had planted bombs at eight places across the city had left the cops guessing, with the bomb-disposal squad, dog squad and fire brigade conducting checks at multiple places through the days. The boy, a Class XI student of an open university, was traced through the IP addresses used to make the Internet calling.During questioning, the boy has told police that he was inspired by the plot of a Bollywood thriller, A Wednesday, and made the calls "to teach the cops a lesson". In the movie, the protagonist, played by Naseeruddin Shah, makes similar calls to the police and threatens to blow up public buildings if the cops don't take action against a few hardcore terrorists.Police said the boy had been facing hardships in his family ever since he was child. His family comprises his widowed mother, a paralysed sister and an elder brother who is estranged from his wife. “The boy’s father had died six years ago and his family does not have the support of relatives. They do not have a proper source of income. His sister is paralysed from waist down, and his mother is a homemaker. The only person who is doing some sort of job is his elder brother. But he has been making rounds of the police station and court because of a marital discord with his wife,” said an officer who had been investigating the source of the calls.He added that the boy had seen his brother being humiliated by the latter’s wife almost every day. Even the local panchayat, where the case of their domestic discord was being heard, did not support the family in their troubled times. “During questioning, the boy narrated his story. He has a lot of angst against the system,” the officer said. Police have not pressed any charges against the boy, considering the hardships the family is going through. SP (city) Shlok Kumar said the boy had been counselled and let off with a warning.

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