The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday received a bomb threat e-mail, prompting the Chandigarh Police to launch a search of the court premises, officials said.
According to a PTI report, the court complex have been evacuated and public entry has been restricted for the time-being. "An e-mail was sent to the registrar's office of the high court, claiming that an IED had been planted in the complex. On being informed, police launched a thorough search," Chandigarh Police SDPO (Central), Udaypal Singh, said.
Gagandeep Jammu, Secretary of the Punjab & Haryana High Court Bar Association told ANI, “We received a bomb threat. As we received the message, the lawyers and staff were asked to vacate the High Court. The court's work has been suspended until 2 pm.”
Hoax bomb threat at Ambala Dy Commissioner's office
The Deputy Commissioner's office in Ambala was evacuated for a brief period following a bomb threat on Wednesday, which later turned out to be a hoax, officials said.
Deputy Commissioner Ajay Singh received a message on his official email, claiming that RDX was planted in his office and he informed the police department about it immediately, news agency PTI reported, quoting an official.
A bomb disposal squad thoroughly swept the office after shifting people out to safety, police said, adding the threat turned out to be a hoax.
Further investigation into the matter was underway, they said.
Hoax bomb threat at Gurugram Mini Secretariat
On the same day, authorities temporarily evacuated people at the Gurugram Mini Secretariat after receiving a hoax bomb threat on Wednesday afternoon, an official said.
According to a PTI report, the bomb threat was sent to the official email ID of the Deputy Commissioner. A bomb squad, police and other specialist teams thoroughly searched the secretariat complex, but it turned out to be a hoax, he said.
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Bomb threat at Gurugram Mini Secretariat turns out to be hoax
"The bomb scare expressed in the received email has been proven to be false and baseless. It was a rumour, but we do not take any situation lightly," DC Ajay Kumar said.
Ambulance, fire brigade and civil defence teams were alert during the searches, the report added.
The secretariat building was temporarily evacuated at 2 pm, and after several hours of extensive searches, no suspicious object was found in the complex, he said.
"The safety of citizens is the administration's top priority. A cyber investigation is being conducted into the matter," the DC said. The administration is trying to identify who sent the threat email," he added.
Jodhpur district collectorate receives hoax bomb threat
In a similar incident, and also on the same day, the Jodhpur district collector's office in Jodhpur was evacuated on Wednesday morning after it received an email threatening to blow up the premises using RDX, officials said.
However, nothing suspicious was found during a search conducted by security forces.
An email was received on the Jodhpur collectorate's official ID around 9.30 am, threatening to blow up the premises using RDX at 3.30 pm. Following this, senior police officials reached the collectorate, a PTI report, citing officials, said.
"Teams from BSF, RPF and CISF were also called in and they conducted a thorough search of the entire premises. They did not find anything suspicious," an official said.
According to the officials, cyber experts of Jodhpur police are trying to trace the sender of the email.
"Along with the DCP East's team of cyber experts, cyber specialists from the commissionerate are also part of the probe. They are trying to trace the IP address and determine the city from which the email was sent," the official said.
On Tuesday, six district collectorates – Dausa, Pali, Sikar, Bhilwara, Tonk and Rajsamand – received hoax bomb threats.
