342 hoax bomb threats in Chennai in past 7 months

CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Police (GCP) Commissioner A Arun on Tuesday said that 342 bomb threats have been issued to establishments and prominent personalities in the City since April this year.

Investigations into these threats are now being conducted by the ATS (anti terrorism squad) unit of the Tamil Nadu Police.

“Nothing (threats) is taken lightly,” Commissioner Arun said and added that either an FIR is registered or a CSR (community service register) is issued.

Based on the consistent phrasings and sentences used in the email threats, City police suspect it to be either a disgruntled individual or a small group of miscreants.

“Most of these threats are sent through TOR browsers or through VPN, which masks the IP address of the senders. For all practical purposes, these messages might have originated from the city itself. We are coordinating with central agencies too, as these hoax messages are happening throughout the country,” said a police officer.

There have also been instances

There have been instances of threats from mentally disturbed persons and minors, and police have let them off on station bail of threats from mentally disturbed persons and minors, and police have let them off on station bail after issuing a stern warning. Last month, City Police arrested a physically challenged man for issuing a hoax bomb threat to the Chief Minister’s residence. Probe revealed that he is a serial offender and has been arrested for a similar offence earlier, too.

The Commissioner has also met with representatives from the consulates in the city and assured them of the action taken so far after hoax bomb threats were issued to various consulates, too.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the Delhi blast, the City Police have intensified vehicle checks across the city since Monday night. “There is no specific threat to Chennai, but we are maintaining heightened vigilance without creating unnecessary panic,” said GCP Commissioner Arun.