Barely had he recovered from the ordeal of receiving a phone call from a woman pretending to be Sonia Gandhi, Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati was made to squirm again today after a prankster, purportedly posing as Dr. Manmohan Singh, gave him a blank call. The hoax call was made around 5 PM and the caller refused to identify himself .The attendant, erring on the side of caution, handed the phone over to the Attorney General. Here are the transcripts of the prank call:

Vahanvati: Hello…Who is this?

Caller: [No response]

Vahanvati: (after a few seconds): Bol Bho$#$# ke, kya chaiye be?

Caller : [No response]

Vahanvati: (a tad nervous) Is that you, Dr. Singh?

Caller: [No response]

Vahanvati: Oh no! I’m sorry, Dr. Singh. Didn’t realize it was you. Please excuse my use of unparliamentary language.

(A few minutes of awkward silence ensued, with Vahanvati, sweating profusely by now, holding the line. Finally…)

Caller: (in a feeble, emasculated voice) theek hai (disconnects)

Vahanvati heaved a sigh of relief after the caller disconnected but began to suspect something was amiss upon reflection. For one, why would the PM want to ‘talk’ to him? Second, even if he did want to talk to the Attorney General, why would Dr. Singh end the call by saying ‘theek hai’ when the Prime Minister is known to not say anything at all when he calls someone?

Taking these factors into account, the Attorney General immediately alerted the top brass of the government including the PMO. All of them were unanimous that it was a prank call and that the man or woman behind it must be immediately identified and brought to book. “In the case of the Sonia hoax call, it was easy to discern that a woman was pretending to be an Italian pretending to be an Indian. But this one nearly got me until the man or woman said ‘theek hai’,” the Attorney General later told The UnReal Times.

After a preliminary investigation, a case has been registered with the cyber cell of the Delhi Police, who are making discreet inquiries. The cyber cell also issued an alert to all Cabinet Ministers, Supreme Court Judges, and other important people. “If you get a blank call, then patiently stay engaged. Under no circumstances, use foul language. At any point, if the caller says anything, immediately disconnect and alert the authorities.”