Surat mall gets bomb threat on email; people evacuated

Surat, Aug 19 (PTI) People were evacuated from a mall in Gujarat's Surat city on Monday after an email threatened to trigger a bomb blast, which was later found to be a hoax, police said.

Surat police commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said searches were conducted at VR Mall on Dumas Road, but nothing suspicious was found on the premises, and the email turned out to be a hoax.

According to the police, this is the second time in four months that such an email was sent to the mall.

Gehlot said the mall's official email ID received an email in the afternoon with a threat to blow up the building.

"Local police along with a Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and dog squad rushed to the spot and evacuated people without creating panic, following which a search operation was launched," he said.

The search lasted till evening, but nothing suspicious was found on the premises, the official said.

"Earlier in April, a similar threat email was sent to the same mall by unidentified persons," Gehlot said, adding that a probe is on to track down the person who sent the email. PTI COR PJT ARU