CHENNAI: Hoax bomb threats have become a nagging issue for the police personnel as Greater Chennai Police (GCP) Commisioner A Arun said the city has received a total of 342 such emails since April this year.
Speaking in a media interaction, the commissioner said every threat mail was registered either under a Community Service Register (CSR) entry or an FIR. “As of now, the cases have been handed over to the Anti Terror Squad (ATS), and they are probing the cases,” he said.
The commissioner said the department suspects only a handful of people are involved behind the threats, as preliminary inquires revealed recurring language patterns and phrasing. The senders are suspected to be local miscreants as they are aware of the daily happenings in Chennai, and have been using VPNs and dark web browsers to conceal their digital footprint, he said.
Talking about the standard protocol for checks regarding these threats, he said the personnel have identified patterns in these emails. “If the new threat falls within the existing patterns, suggest hoax threats, the police and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) go to the place concerned and inform the people there. If they agree for a check, the personnel proceed with it, and if they do not want the checks, the teams will return back. However, if the new email is outside the pattern, the police insist on an intense check,” he added.
When asked about the security arrangements in Chennai after the blast in Delhi, he said even though there is no direct threat to the city, 1,200 police officers and personnel have been deployed in checks across the city. “Since the blast occurred near a metro station in Delhi, all the locations in and around metro stations in Chennai were thoroughly checked,” he added.