Bomb threat emails sent to Ahmedabad schools ahead of voting traced to Pakistan

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch (DCB) on Friday said that it has traced the threatening email, which claimed to be targeting 36 schools in Ahmedabad during Lok Sabha polls on May 7, to a military establishment in Pakistan.

The DCB officials said that investigation has found that the email was sent using mail.ru domain (a Russian server) by someone identified as Tauheed Liyakat.

Sharad Singhal, joint commissioner of police, DCB, said in a media briefing that the authentication of the sender is yet to be ascertained but investigation has traced the origin of the mail to a cantonment located in Faisalabad in Pakistan.

Responding to questions whether any Pakistani agency was involved, Singhal said, "We can't say anything until actual identification of the person is revealed. But, the mail was sent a day before the election and many of the schools had been converted into polling booths. Based on this, we can say that it (email) was sent to create panic among voters...This is cyber warfare whose motive is to instill fear among the citizens."

The threatening emails were received on the eve of the third phase of Lok Sabha election on May 7 claiming some 36 schools were under the target of terrorists. The DCB, Cyber Crime, Special Operations Group, and Ahmedabad Police launched an investigation soon after the threats.

The threat messages were also circulated using social media platforms such as "ICQ, Snap-chat, Twitter, Roblex" among others using different names. DCB along with Cyber Cell found that the accounts were being operated under the name Tauheed Liyakat and Hamad Javed from the same location in Faisalabad.

The suspected names also figured during investigation by another agency while probing a honeytrap case. DCB is in touch with state IB, Anti-Terrorism Squad and central security agencies for further investigation.