A briefcase on the MG Road station platform on Friday had passengers heading for the door and cops calling the bomb disposal squad before an elderly doctor took it away, blaming his memory for leaving it behind.

Security personnel spotted the briefcase around 3.55pm. “We did not take a chance and informed the bomb disposal squad and the dog squad at Lalbazar. They arrived in minutes and cordoned off the area around the briefcase,” said Protyush Kumar Ghosh, the spokesperson for Metro Railways.

As members of the bomb disposal squad were preparing to open the bag, the elderly doctor made his way through the cordon. “He identified himself as Dr S.K. Saraf and claimed the briefcase,” said an officer of the local Jorasanko police station.

When the cops found that the contents of the briefcase matched the doctor’s list, they handed it over to him. He, however, had to furnish a declaration that the briefcase belonged to him.

“Irresponsibility on the doctor’s part created so much of panic and inconvenienced several people,” said Ghosh. Trains were not disrupted because of the scare.