Hoax bomb mails again flood Post offices, passport centres in Bengal get bomb hoax mails again

Kolkata, Feb 27 (PTI) Multiple post offices and adjoining passport offices in various districts of West Bengal received fresh bomb threat emails during office hours on Friday, prompting evacuation of premises and extensive search by the police and bomb disposal squads, but nothing incriminating was found, officials said.

The threatening mails were sent to the offices in districts such as Hooghly, Paschim Bardhaman, Bankura and Howrah.

Courts and several offices across the state have received such emails in the three previous days, too, and all were found to be hoaxes.

Friday’s messages claimed that the previous alerts were merely a "test" of the administration's preparedness, and an actual explosion would take place on Friday.

At the Hooghly head post office, which also houses a Passport Seva Kendra, services were immediately suspended and the premises evacuated after the email was received.

A similar situation unfolded at the Serampore sub-divisional post office. Police asked visitors and staff to leave, leading to a temporary disruption of services.

Security personnel conducted thorough checks, but nothing suspicious was found. Identical threat emails were also reported at the Asansol head post office in Paschim Bardhaman, the Bankura head post office, and the main post office in Howrah.

In Howrah, the scare extended to the New Collectorate building, which houses the district magistrate's office and several key administrative departments.

The mails warned that an “RDX bomb filled with cyanide gas” would explode at 12:10 pm and urged authorities to evacuate people by 11 am.

However, no explosion was reported at any of the locations mentioned.

Police deployed sniffer dogs and carried out detailed searches across all affected premises.

Officials later confirmed that the threats appeared to be hoax messages, as no explosives or suspicious objects were recovered.

The latest threats mark the fourth consecutive day of similar incidents across the state. Since Tuesday, multiple government offices, including courts and passport facilities, have received bomb threat emails.

On Tuesday, bomb threats were sent to the City Civil Court in Kolkata and several district courts. Several lower courts in West Bengal received such mails on Wednesday, while the passport office in Kolkata got the same communication the next day. PTI SUS NN