TN man 'sends hoax bomb threat' to residences of Karnataka CM, Deputy CM; probe launched

Bengaluru, Oct 14 (PTI) A probe has been launched to trace a man from Tamil Nadu who allegedly sent a hoax email recently threatening to blow up the residences of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, police said on Tuesday.

The emails were sent from a particular ID to the Tamil Nadu DGP on October 11, following which officials of the Karnataka police were immediately alerted and necessary precautionary measures were taken, they said.

The purported email from aarna.ashwinshekher@outlook.com claimed that “four RDX devices and several IEDs” had been planted at the residences of both the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister and would be “detonated remotely.” As per protocol, precautionary measures were initiated, and the Bengaluru police carried out combing operations at both residences with the bomb detection and disposal squad. However, after thorough checks, the emails were declared a hoax, a senior police officer said.

A case was registered by the police on their own against the sender of the purported email at Halasuru Gate police station under sections 351(4) (criminal intimidation) and 353(1)(b) (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the officer said.

“The particular email ID has been tracked to a man from Tamil Nadu and efforts are on to nab the culprit. However, what we have observed is that in the past few months, we have repeatedly received such emails with similar threats and content, which later turn out to be hoax,” he said.

“A special investigation team has also been formed to trace those behind such hoax emails. Further investigation is underway,” he added. PTI AMP ROH