Kolkata, February 24 – A bomb threat was sent to seven courts in West Bengal, including the Calcutta High Court, via email, causing panic among judges and lawyers on Tuesday, police said.
Following the bomb threat, the state administration hastily called a high-level meeting at the State Secretariat.
West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, in a press conference, said: "The security of the courts is the responsibility of the state government. There is no reason to panic."
The State Chief Secretary, on Tuesday, appealed to the general public not to listen to rumors.
At the same time, the West Bengal Cyber Crime Branch has already started an investigation to find out who is behind this threatening email.
"The judges will be provided with all kinds of protection. They will be assisted so that they can perform their duties in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) without any hindrance," Chief Secretary Chakraborty added.
She also said, "Rumors have been spread that bombs have been planted in several courts in the state, including Asansol and Durgapur. The state government is closely monitoring this matter, and a search is being carried out for the sender of the email."
She assured the general public that there is no need to panic unnecessarily over such baseless rumors.
West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) Piyush Pandey, who was also present at the press conference, said, "We are fully prepared to handle such a situation."
Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar was also present at the press conference.
He said that the police's Cyber Cell is actively investigating from where these emails were sent, adding: "We are investigating the entire matter. We are taking this incident very seriously. Initial investigations show that these emails are completely fake. The pattern of emails sent in each place is similar."
He also said that the district judges will continue to work normally, and the state government will take responsibility for ensuring their security.
The administration is fully committed to that, he added.
On Tuesday, at 11:30 a.m., an email was received by Asansol District Judge Debaprasad Nath.
The email claimed that a bomb kept in the court premises and the judge's chamber would be detonated by 1 p.m. on Tuesday.
The email, written in Bengali, also made several objectionable and serious demands.
It is known that not only Asansol, but also the Calcutta High Court, Alipore Court, Durgapur Court, Berhampur Court, Suri Court, Hooghly District Court, and Rampurhat Court have also received threatening emails with the same message.
As soon as the news of the bomb threat spread, there was a huge commotion in the court premises.
All judicial work was immediately suspended for security reasons.
Immediately after receiving the threatening email, every court premises were ordered to be vacated immediately.
In the case of Asansol, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sandeep Karra of the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate, and a large police force reached the spot upon receiving the news.
The entire court premises were surrounded, and the entry of the general public was completely prohibited. Following this, the bomb squad and dog squad were brought in, and a search began.
Starting from the judge's chamber, the security guards searched the courtroom and the adjacent areas.
However, even after a long search, no suspicious object or explosive was recovered from any of the court premises.
The situation is currently under control, according to police sources.
The state administration was shaken by the threat of such a bomb in an important place like a court.
An emergency meeting was held at the State Secretariat on Tuesday to review the situation.
Since the content of all the threatening emails is almost the same, the initial assumption of the police is that it was done intentionally to spread panic.
At present, with the increase in cybercrime, investigators are also investigating this incident from that perspective.
Cyber Cell officials have started working in full swing to find out from which IP address these emails were sent and what their technical source is.
As of now, police security has been increased in every court premises, and strict surveillance is being carried out on suspicious movements.