A telephone call that a bomb would be sneaked into Pragati Maidan, hosting the India International Trade Fair, sent police into a tizzy on Saturday but it turned out to be a hoax.

An unidentified person called up the Police Control Room just before the fair opened at 1000 IST, claiming that some people would try to sneak a bomb hidden in a gas cylinder into Pragati Maidan and detonate it in a restaurant, police sources said.

The area was immediately cordoned off and bomb disposal squads and dogs scourged it for over an hour. However, no suspicious object or person was found and the call declared a hoax, the sources said.

The IITF attracts thousands of visitors every day and the Pragati Maidan is cloaked in unprecedented security for this year's event in view of the October 29 serial blasts.