It is a serious issue that some of the top men in the Karnataka government—Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Home Minister G Parameshwara, besides some senior police officials—received email threats about 24 hours after the March 1 Rameshwaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru. Even if it is a hoax, it needs attention.
The threat describes the cafe blast as a “movie trailer” for larger blasts to follow targeting buses, trains, taxis, temples, hotels and public areas throughout Karnataka if the state government does not pay $2.5 million. But the mail—from the account shahidkhan10786@protonmail.com—does not mention to whom the payment is to be made, although it specifies a mail ID “for further communication”, shahidkhan11786@protonmail.com. The mail was made public only on March 5, three days after it was sent, indicating the government’s serious view of the threat.
Its timing soon after the previous day’s blast cannot be ignored. The Lok Sabha polls are about two months away. And the new Congress government in Karnataka has just settled in. There are political elements who would look to gain from portraying weak governance over an apparently poor law and order situation that presents an “atmosphere of strife”, reflecting poorly on the ruling party in the state.
The blast and the threat mail have already taken a political turn. The ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in the state are in the midst of a pow-wow over who is to blame. The BJP accuses the Congress government with police/intelligence failure and “minority appeasement”. The Congress has countered with allegations of failure of the central intelligence agencies under the BJP-ruled Union government. But accusations and counter-accusations will not solve mysteries behind the blast and the threat mail.
The blast was real—it injured 10 people. The same cannot be said about the email; yet it cannot be taken lightly. The use of the highly-protected Protonmail service lends credence to the possibility of the threat being real. Incidentally, in December, 68 schools in and around Bengaluru had received threat mails over beeble.com, which are not yet traced.
The need is for beefed-up ground-level intelligence and a strong cybersecurity force, whose methods of tracking and detection are so sound that their capabilities can act as deterrence. The rest, for now, is mere speculation and unwanted political finger-pointing.