BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: Security agencies were mobilised and emergency protocols activated in the Orissa High Court and other subordinate courts in at least three districts after bomb threats were received through email on Thursday.
The sender reportedly claimed to be a member of militant organisation LTTE and threatened to blow up the courts using RDX. The anonymous email threatening to destroy court complexes was received at several courts in Cuttack, Sambalpur and Deogarh in the morning.
According to a statement by the state police headquarters, security arrangements were immediately tightened with thorough checks and surveillance put in place.
The Orissa High Court as well as the Cuttack District and Sessions Court campuses along with the courts in other districts were vacated after the bomb threat.
Police as well as anti-bomb squads were deployed and premises of the courts were sanitised before the proceedings resumed later in the afternoon. The situation is being closely monitored, police said.
During checking of the court campuses in Cuttack, police did not find any explosives. “No explosive material or any suspicious object was detected on the premises of the court,” said Cuttack DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi held discussions with chief secretary Anu Garg, DGP YB Khurania and other senior officials and took stock of the situation. He directed the police to issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) and remain alert at all times in view of the bomb threats.
The meeting concluded that the bomb threats were a hoax. He, however, advised the police to strengthen the various bomb squads and provide advanced training to make the detection and neutralization teams more efficient.
Sources said the email sent to the courts was written in Odia language. The source of the mail is being ascertained, police said.
Advocate general Pitambar Acharya said prima facie it appeared to be hoax mail and there was no threat to the courts in the state. “Similar threat mail was sent to the courts in Tamil Nadu recently and the mischief apparently originated from the southern state. The state Crime Branch is looking into the matter,” he told the mediapersons.
“Similar threat mails were recently sent to courts in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and others. We are in touch with our counterparts there to ascertain if it was a mischief of same group of individuals. One case each has been registered in Cuttack, Sambalpur and Deogarh, and further probe is on,” he added.