Ludhiana, May 8 -- A bomb scare on a Katra-bound bus triggered panic and a full-scale emergency response near Samrala in Ludhiana on Wednesday afternoon.

The alert, later confirmed to be a hoax, led to the swift evacuation of 45 passengers, and deployment of senior police officials and a bomb disposal squad.

It was around 2.50 pm, when the driver of the Orbit Aviation bus, Sukhwinder Singh, received a call from a bus ticket booking agency in Delhi, warning that a bomb had been planted on board.

Demonstrating remarkable presence of mind, Singh veered the bus off the highway onto the adjoining fields and drove to the nearby Hedon police post.

After quietly evacuating all passengers without causing panic, he alerted the police personnel ...