Bomb threat email triggers security sweep at Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan received a threat claiming a bomb and missile attack there by email on Thursday morning. Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde said that because of the email threat the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and dog squad were called to inspect the entire Vidhan Bhavan premises and investigate the case.

Minister of State (MoS) for Home Sanjay Bhoyar said an email was received and so all employees were removed from the premises and a search operation was carried out. Bhoyar said necessary security arrangements have been made and there was no need to panic.

Bhoyar said that the inspection was over and prima facie it seems that it was a hoax threat. Most Legislators had not arrived in Vidhan Bhavan so early in the morning, so there was no need to evacuate them.




“On Thursday morning at 6:57 AM, there was an email on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) email id with a threat of a bomb and missile. So as an emergency response, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) and dog squad inspected the entire Vidhan Bhavan premises.

The threat was for four other locations apart from Vidhan Bhavan. So even those areas are being inspected by the police. There is an investigation going on. Since the budget session of the legislature is on, all officials have been given entry,” Shinde said.

“The budget session is very important. Since there was a threat email. So there is an investigation going on. All details will be revealed after the investigation.

The email also mentions Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), Metro, High Court (HC) and some banks apart from Vidhan Bhavan. The email also mentions timing. So precaution is taken by the administration and necessary action is being taken by BDDS and police. The email came early in the morning on Thursday,” Shinde said.

“This seems to be done by some perverted minds. The police are investigating the exact email id and IP address. Since a war was going on in the Gulf, words like missiles were used. But it was a hoax email, so there is no need to panic,” Bhoyar said.