CHENNAI: The Bengaluru Police Control Room received an e-mail in the wee hours of Wednesday, claiming bombs were placed in temples in Chennai. The e-mail was forwarded to the office of the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police and the Chennai City Police Control Room was alerted immediately.
The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) along with sniffer dogs were deployed to all the major temples in the city and an intensive check was conducted. After ascertaining that the threat was a hoax, the police registered a case and initiated efforts to trace the origin of the e-mail. Police said the mail was sent through jaffarsait@outlook.com.
On Monday, a private school near Porur revised a hoax bomb threat. As many as 13 private schools in Chennai received hoax bomb threats through e-mail in February. The e-mail service used by the senders was end-to-end encrypted and they also used virtual private networks, which make it difficult to track the senders.
According to media reports, after the Tamil Nadu police highlighted the issue, the Union IT Ministry has been mulling to block this particular e-mail service in the country.
The Chennai City Police on Wednesday, issued a press note saying that the cyber crime wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) has lodged cases regarding the threats to schools. Severe legal action will be taken against the perpetrators, it read.