AHMEDABAD: Bomb threats rattled Gujarat judiciary on January 6, with emails warning of RDX blasts across the state, triggering panic from Surat to Rajkot, from Ahmedabad to Bharuch.
Claims invoking LTTE and ISKP links triggered mass evacuations, suspended court work, and statewide security sweeps. However, no explosives were found.
The threats, identical in language and intent, warned of RDX-fitted suicide bombs planted inside court premises, forcing authorities into swift, coordinated action.
The emails claimed responsibility in the name of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), alleging collaboration with Kashmir-based ISKP operatives and former LTTE members, an assertion that immediately escalated the threat perception and pushed security agencies into high alert.
One of the most alarming lines in the mail read: “A human suicide bomb has been planted in your court premises using three RDX. Vacate the court by 1.55 pm, before the explosion.”
Lower courts in Surat, Anand, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Bharuch were named as targets, while similar mails landed almost simultaneously in the offices of the Bharuch Collector and Gandhinagar Collector, prompting instant evacuations and lockdown-like security measures.
In Surat, a mail received around 2 am warned of an RDX blast in the District Court. When court staff opened the mail early in the morning, the system froze.
Judges were alerted, police were summoned, and the court complex was swiftly transformed into a security zone. Bomb disposal squads, dog squads, the Crime Branch and SOG teams fanned out, scanning every corridor, courtroom and office.
By afternoon, checks were completed with no suspicious objects found.
Still, caution prevailed, and only urgent cases were allowed, keeping public footfall to a minimum.
Government lawyer Nayan Sukhdwala confirmed the rapid response, saying, “The court staff saw the mail early in the morning and immediately informed the Principal District Judge. Without wasting a moment, the Judge alerted the police. Since then, an intensive checking drive is underway in the entire court building.”
Ahmedabad remained on edge as well.
Threat mail also targeted the registry department of the Ahmedabad City Civil and Sessions Court. Proceedings were suspended as bomb and dog squads conducted thorough searches. Once again, no explosives were found, but the fear lingered.
Rajkot added a dramatic twist to the unfolding scare. During checks at the District and Sessions Court, the SOG recovered a drone from inside the premises, briefly raising fears of an aerial explosive device.
The investigation later revealed that the drone belonged to a lawyer from Mehsana and carried no explosives. Police questioned the lawyer as part of protocol.
Rajkot court authorities had earlier informed the police control upon receiving their own bomb threat mail. Within minutes, university police, SOG, bomb squads and dog squads converged, evacuated the premises and combed the area, finding nothing suspicious, yet left no room for complacency.
Across Gujarat, the pattern was the same: identical emails, synchronised panic, rapid evacuations, exhaustive searches, and a clear message from authorities: zero tolerance for threats to judicial security.
While no physical danger materialised, the psychological shockwaves were unmistakable, exposing how a single coordinated threat can momentarily paralyse governance.