Bomb threat email names Somnath temple, Gujarat BJP offices; searches find nothing suspicious
Ahmedabad/Gir Somnath, Sep 21 (IANS) A bomb-threat email naming the Somnath Temple and BJP offices in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar triggered a security alert across Gujarat on Monday, prompting searches by police, bomb detection and disposal teams and dog squads, officials said.
The threat mentioned the BJP office in Ahmedabad’s Khanpur area, the party’s state office, Kamalam, at Koba in Gandhinagar, and the Somnath Temple.
Police said no suspicious object was found during searches at the locations.
Ahmedabad C-Division ACP Adwait Gandhi said the State Intelligence Bureau in Gandhinagar received the input around 9 a.m., following which the Khanpur BJP office was thoroughly checked, and additional police deployment was put in place.
“At 9 a.m., we received an input from the State Intelligence Bureau in Gandhinagar. According to that, there was a threat of a bomb blast at the BJP Central Office in Khanpur. We informed the BDTS and had the entire premises checked, and police deployment has also been put in place. The situation is normal,” Gandhi said.
He confirmed that the Somnath Temple and BJP office at Koba had also been named in the threat. “Nothing suspicious has been found. The situation is normal,” he said.
Gandhi said there was no need for panic and added that police are carrying out their duties. “I do not have information about the origin of the email at this stage and action had been taken on the basis of the intelligence input,” he noted.
At the Khanpur office, police, fire brigade personnel and bomb and dog squad teams conducted a detailed search.
City BJP president Prerak Shah said the party was informed that intelligence agencies had received an email threatening to blow up the office.
“Based on that, both the police and bomb squad arrived here. The entire Khanpur BJP office was searched, and nothing objectionable or suspicious was found here,” Shah said.
At Somnath, Deputy SP M.F. Chaudhary said the police received the threat email in the morning and the entire police force was placed on alert on the instructions and guidance of the Superintendent of Police.
He said the temple has dedicated security personnel working round the clock and that devotees normally undergo two-layer frisking and checking.
Electronic gadgets and other prohibited items are not allowed inside the temple premises.
“In view of today’s situation, we put our other district branches, including the LCB, Special Operation Group, BDS and QRT, on alert and had the entire temple premises searched. The BDS searched the temple premises but found no suspicious objects,” he said.
The latest threat comes amid a series of similar email-based bomb scares in Gujarat.
Earlier this month, threats were received by courts, schools and the Gujarat Assembly, while separate threats on September 15 and 17 reportedly named courts, Mahatma Mandir and port facilities.
Searches in those cases also did not result in the recovery of explosives.
Gujarat Police had also recently arrested two men in connection with an alleged interstate network involved in sending hoax bomb-threat emails.
Investigators recovered details of 513,847 Gmail accounts and passwords allegedly linked to the network.
Police are examining whether the latest threat has any connection with that network.
–IANS
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