KOCHI: Kochi airport received a bomb threat via email on Monday, the latest in a series of threats to various establishments in the state in recent days. The warning, which came a day after similar threats to the Thiruvananthapuram airport and Thampanoor railway station on Sunday, was later declared a hoax.
The email, which read, “RDX-based explosive device has been clandestinely planted at the CIAL! Evacuate all by 2 pm!” was sent from the ID achimullu_ahmed_shankar@outlook.com and received by the public relations officer (PRO) of the Cochin Airport International Ltd (CIAL) around 7.53am.
Within an hour, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) of the CIAL convened to evaluate the nature of the threat. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) anti-sabotage unit thoroughly checked every nook and corner of the airport terminals, with the police bomb squad also joining in.
Simultaneously, alerts were issued to airline operators who began inspecting parked aircraft. Around 9am, the threat was confirmed to be a hoax.
The police have registered a case and launched an investigation based on a complaint by the CIAL. The police cyber wing is already probing a series of similar hoax emails received by various government and private establishments in recent days.