Hoax bomb threat emails to state govt offices trigger panic | Bengaluru News
A series of hoax bomb threat emails sent to govt offices across Karnataka over the past few days triggered panic among staff and prompted heightened security checks, though repeated searches didn’t unearth any explosive. Deputy commissioner (DC) offices in several districts have received threat emails, often one or two a day, forcing evacuations and inspections by police, bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs. In the last three to four days, DC offices in Bidar, Kolar, Gadag, Mangaluru (RTO), Davanagere, Tumakuru, Uttara Kannada and Vijayapura were targeted with those hoax threats. Employees said the sight of police teams scanning their offices caused anxiety, though relief followed once the threats were declared nothing more than a hoax. Police sources said the emails were sent from a common email ID, aarna_aswin_sekar, and carried identical content, alleging that Pakistan’s ISI, in coordination with former LTTE cadres, planned bomb attacks on DC offices. Senior police officers said all threats were being treated seriously. “We are not taking any chances. Each complaint is followed by a thorough search, using bomb disposal and dog squads. So far, nothing suspicious has been found, but security protocols must be strictly followed,” an officer said. Some DCs said changing official email IDs was not feasible as those were permanently registered on govt records. Davanagere DC G M Gangadarswamy said his office received a threat on Tuesday, but all 53 rooms were searched, and the email was declared a hoax. “We are functioning as usual now,” he confirmed. Bidar SP Pradeep Gunti said searches across buildings in the district yielded nothing. “These emails will stop only when those responsible are arrested. Police are working to identify and apprehend the culprits,” he said. The hoax alerts also extended to tahsildar offices. On Tuesday, bomb threat emails were received by the Bhatkal and Karwar tahsildar offices. Karwar tahsildar Nishcal Noronha informed the cops, following which, both offices were searched. However, no explosives were found and normal work later resumed. Uttara Kannada superintendent of police Deepan M N said bomb detection squads carried out detailed inspections at both locations and found no suspicious material. Two cases have been registered, and investigations are under way to trace the sender, he added. Police were also checking whether other govt offices in the district had received similar emails. In Tumakuru, the DC office received a threat email around 7 am Tuesday, which was noticed by staff around 9 am. Police evacuated the seven staff members present and conducted a thorough search lasting more than four hours before declaring the threat a hoax. Staff were allowed back only after identity verification. Police urged officials to remain vigilant at all times as efforts continued to track down those behind the hoax emails.
