Dog and bomb disposal squads conducted thorough checks after which the emails were declared hoax
At Sangli, the threat email, received around 2pm, warned of a blast at 3.11pm. The court work resumed around 3.45pm,” district public prosecutor Pramod Bhokare said. The email reportedly referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, spoke of avenging the deaths and claimed responsibility on behalf of a separatist group. Similar emails were received by courts in Satara, Solapur, Ratnagiri and Pandharpur, with the Pandharpur message claiming a blast would occur at 3.30pm. An email threat to bomb the Shivajinagar District and Sessions Court in Pune was received on the court’s official email around 2.30pm. The email also allegedly threatened a blast during singer Diljit Dosanjh ’s scheduled Nov 27 programme at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Racecourse and claimed an explosive device would be concealed inside an iPhone. Police evacuated judges, lawyers, litigants and court staff from both Thane court buildings, securing a 100-metre radius around the complex while BDDS teams conducted searches. In Palghar, a threat warning of a blast at 3.11pm led to the evacuation of the district and sessions court.
“Bomb detection and disposal squad with dog squad were rushed to the spot and launched a thorough search of the court complex and adjoining areas. Nanded SP Nilabh Rohan also confirmed that the threat turned out to be a hoax, though police acted swiftly to eliminate any possibility of sabotage. Cyber police have launched investigations to trace the sender and determine the origin of the coordinated threat emails, which caused disruption across multiple court complexes but resulted in no damage or injuries. (With inputs from Pune, Thane, Palghar & Kolhapur) Stay updated with the latest Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar news.
Beed superintendent of police Navneet Kanwat said the threat email was received on the court’s official email ID. No explosive items or bombs were found,” he said. Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the same email also threatened to blow up a Metro station, which was checked simultaneously, but nothing was found there either. Kumar said an FIR would be registered at Shivajinagar police station.
Authorities later declared all the threats hoaxes after exhaustive checks found no explosives. Courts in Pune, Beed, Nanded, Parbhani, Thane, Palghar, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Pandharpur and Ratnagiri were among those that received threatening emails warning of bomb blasts on their premises. The email also threatened to blow up a Metro station in Pune. Following the alerts, court premises were evacuated and daily proceedings temporarily halted as bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) teams and dog squads combed the premises. Court work resumed later in the day after security clearances. “The judge informed the high court registry about the threat mail. The premises were vacated and police were called for detecting the bomb, which was not found. Fire tenders were also deployed at the Satara court complex as a precaution. “The same email also threatened to blow up the metro station. BDDS conducted a thorough search of the court premises, but found no suspicious or bomb-like object. A separate threat mail to the Thane District Court sparked a major security operation after it warned of an IED attack on court premises and referred to possible attacks on Metro stations. No suspicious object was found. Download the TOI App.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Panic gripped courts and other establishments in parts of Maharashtra on Monday after a series of bomb threat emails triggered large-scale evacuations and security searches in several districts. Our team also checked the metro station simultaneously but nothing was found,” said Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Monday evening.