Bengaluru: Bengaluru police commissioner B Dayananda on Saturday urged the public to not panic even as three separate cases were booked after hoax bomb threat emails were sent to Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium and the National Gallery of Modern Art on Friday.
“Mischievous elements are trying to create a commotion in society,” Dayananda told DH.
“People should not pay heed to these things and if any such information comes to their knowledge, they should immediately contact the police,” he said.
On Friday morning Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium and the National Gallery of Modern Art received a one-liner email that there were explosives on the premises.
Bomb disposal squad and anti-sabotage units declared the threat a hoax after a thorough search.
“Three cases have been registered at the Cubbon Park police station, High Grounds police station and the Vidhana Soudha police station,” a senior police officer told DH.
“It appears that the same emails were sent to museums throughout the country. The probe is underway,” the officer said.
The incident occurred over a month after emails with identical texts warning of explosives, which were declared a hoax, were sent to 70 schools in the city and on the outskirts.
At around 1 am on January 3, the Vidhana Soudha police received a phone call from the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) office in Mumbai that they had received a call from an unknown phone number warning of a bomb being planted at the NSE office on DBS House, Cunningham Road. Bomb squads, canine squads and anti-sabotage teams were deployed and the threat was later declared a hoax.
“The origin of the call is being traced,” a police investigator said. Further investigations are on.
Published 06 January 2024, 21:29 IST