Bomb threat emails to educational institutions, IT offices, and airports are not new. However, last month, a threat email was directly sent to Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, warning of bomb blasts at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and shopping malls in the city. The bomb threat was later determined to be a hoax, the police said on Wednesday.
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The email was sent to the Bengaluru City police commissioner’s official email ID, compolbcp@ksp.gov.in, on November 30, in the name of ‘Jaish-e-Mohammed white collar terror team’.
According to the complaint filed by police official Subbarao, the email read: “This is a warning from the Jaish-e-Mohammed White collar terror team, we targeted Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru, Orion mall, Lulu Mall, Forum South mall, Mantri Square Mall, Lulu Mall for bomb blast at 7 pm onwards. Thanks to our allah and our master mohit to serve better to our nation…call us if you want to pay and not let this happen.”
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The cybercrime police have booked a case under Section 66 (f) (cyber terrorism) of the Information Technology Act.
With various establishments in Bengaluru getting bomb threat emails this year, the city police have formed a special team to investigate the cases. “There are about 35 hoax bomb threat emails, which have a lot of similarities in context to the literature. We suspect that there is one person behind it, but it is too early to conclude,” the official added.
In November, a Belathur resident being treated at NIMHANS was arrested for allegedly sending a threat email to Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited, warning that a Metro station in Bengaluru would be blown up.