Two banks in Chennai receive hoax bomb threats in 24 hours

CHENNAI: Tension ensued as two banks in the city received bomb threats in 24 hours. Both turned out to be hoax threats.

The Union Bank of India building near Rajaji Salai received a bomb threat, and a search operation was initiated on the sixth floor of the building. All employees present inside the building were safely evacuated, and security measures caused a traffic jam in the area on Thursday.

However, the threat was found to be a hoax. The heavy police presence for inspection of the premises led to traffic disruptions in the vicinity.

In another similar incident in TNagar on Wednesday, confusion prevailed at the City Union Bank's T Nagar branch after the staff discovered a bomb threat email in the bank's inbox. The local police swiftly responded.

According to police sources, an unknown sender had sent the threat email to the branch's official email ID, claiming that three RDX bombs had been planted on the premises.

Bank employees noticed the email and immediately alerted the branch manager, TR Balaji (47), who has been the manager of the T Nagar branch for the past year and resides in the CUB staff quarters in Mylapore. He rushed to the Mambalam Police Station and filed a formal complaint seeking immediate police action.

The police confirmed the threat to be a hoax after thorough inspection. The police are verifying the origin of the email and have launched a hunt for the unidentified sender.