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Bengaluru airport, schools hit by series of hoax bomb threats, police launch probe to trace origin: Report
Bengaluru faces wave of bomb scare emails, including threats to schools and KIA, all confirmed hoaxes.
Bengaluru witnessed a fresh wave of bomb scare emails this week, with several prominent schools and Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) receiving threatening messages that were later confirmed to be hoaxes, reported The Indian Express.
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According to the report, the most alarming incident occurred on June 13, when the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), tasked with securing KIA, received a chilling email from an Outlook account — chitrakalas_gopalan@outlook.com. The sender, identifying themselves as part of a group called "Madras Tigers," claimed that “Human IEDs” were set to explode near the fuselage and prayer rooms of the airport. The email also alleged that explosive projectiles and pipe bombs had been strategically planted around the premises.
In response, airport authorities conducted an immediate and thorough search operation. No suspicious objects were found, and the threat was later declared a hoax. An FIR has been filed at the BIAL police station, and an investigation is underway to track the source of the email.
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Several schools recieve bomb threat too
Just days earlier, on Monday, a number of private schools across the city also reporedly received bomb threat emails, sparking panic among staff, students, and parents. These institutions fall under the jurisdictions of Kumbalgod, RR Nagar, and Kalasipalya police stations. Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh later confirmed that these alerts, too, turned out to be false after comprehensive checks.
According to officials familiar with the case, the content and pattern of the emails bear resemblance to similar threats that were sent to schools in Hassan, Udupi, and even to institutions in other states. Investigators believe this could be part of a larger, coordinated hoax campaign. FIRs are being registered in each instance, and cyber teams are working to pinpoint the origin of the messages and those behind the scare tactics.
Authorities say such fake bomb threats are not new to Karnataka. Between 2022 and 2024, the state recorded at least 169 such false alerts — 133 of them in Bengaluru alone. While police arrested 10 individuals involved in three cases during this period, only a handful have resulted in chargesheets so far.
In one particularly bizarre incident earlier this year, a postgraduate medical student in Mangaluru was arrested for sending a bomb threat email to avoid delivering a scheduled seminar.
