Ranchi, March 26 The Ranchi Collectorate, the Sahibganj and Dhanbad civil courts received bomb threat emails on Thursday, officials said.
Police and bomb disposal squads conducted searches of the Ranchi Collectorate building, the Sahibganj and Dhanbad civil court premises, but no explosive materials were found, they said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Prakash Soy of the Ranchi Kotwali area said that following the threat email, the police and bomb disposal squad conducted a thorough inspection of the entire Collectorate premises.
"The bomb disposal squad team has not yet discovered any explosive materials during their inspection. A comprehensive search of the entire building was conducted as a precautionary measure," Soy told reporters.
The Ranchi Collectorate building at Kutchery Chowk houses the offices of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).
Sahibganj Deputy Commissioner Hemant Sati told reporters that a threat to blow up the district civil court was received at the court's official email on Thursday morning.
"Upon receiving this information, police immediately swung into action, and a thorough inspection of the entire court complex was carried out," he said.
The deputy commissioner said that a dog squad team was summoned from Dumka, and every corner of the court premises was examined.
He said that no explosives have been found during the search operation.
Sahibganj SP Amit Kumar Singh told reporters that similar threat emails have surfaced in several other regions of the state, consequently, the police were already on high alert.
"Directives regarding preparedness had already been received from Police Headquarters, ensuring that the force was ready to respond. Upon receiving the intelligence, police personnel arrived at the scene within five minutes and inspected every corner. As a precautionary measure, all judicial officers, staff, and lawyers were evacuated from the court premises," Singh said.
The SP personally arrived at the court and met Principal Judge of the Sahibganj Family Court, Sanjay Kumar Upadhyay.
"However, preliminary investigations have not yielded any explosive materials," said a senior police officer.
As a precautionary measure, the administration has also initiated a search operation at the Rajmahal Court complex to ensure that any potential threat is completely averted.
A bomb threat email was also received at the Dhanbad Civil Court email on Thursday morning, putting the police administration on high alert, and the entire court complex was cordoned off.
Dhanbad Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sumit Kumar of the City Control Room (CCR) told reporters that following the threat email, the entire court complex was thoroughly inspected along with a technical team and the dog squad.
"As of now, no suspicious objects have been discovered. Efforts to trace the source of the email are on, and action will be taken promptly," the police officer said.
He further said that all necessary security protocols were strictly adhered to as a precautionary measure. Additional police forces were deployed, and the entire premises were brought under a security cordon.
"Based on preliminary investigations, the email appears to be a hoax, however, the police are proceeding with the inquiry while taking every aspect into consideration," he said.
The DSP said that the Cyber Cell team is actively engaged in an investigation to identify the sender of the email and hoped that the accused will be apprehended soon.