Hoax bomb threat at I-T office sends staff into a tizzy

An email sent to a senior official of the customs department about a bomb being planted at the income tax headquarters building in the city created panic on Wednesday night.

The Commercial Street police said the email came around 10.30 pm to the customs official’s email ID, informing him that the bomb will blow up the entire building soon.

The official alerted his seniors, who in turn informed the police. The police along with the bomb disposal and detection squad (BDDS) and dog squad rushed to the spot and sanitised the entire building clear and safe until early hours of Thursday before concluding it was a hoax email.

The news spread among the I-T staff on Thursday morning, and many of the hundreds of I-T employees were worried about entering the building premises. Both the police and the senior tax officials had a tough time convincing the employees that the building was safe and the email was a hoax.

The police are waiting for the I-T officials to file a complaint as they have reported the matter to their higher authorities for approval.

“Soon after we get a complaint, we will track the IP address from where the email originated, and the culprit will be nabbed,” said a senior police officer.