The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday evacuated its facility at Bengaluru's BEL Road after being informed that a bomb had been planted inside the premises. That triggered an immediate security response with police and bomb disposal teams rushing to the site to conduct a thorough search of the building.
According to police officers, the email is part of a series of hoax bomb threats targeting several institutions in Karnataka in the last weeks. The ISRO facility was initially searched but no suspicious objects or explosive materials were found, the search on it is still on as a precaution, they said.
The bomb threat was received at ISRO's new BEL Road campus, which was quickly evacuated to ensure its safety. Emergency workers, bomb detection and disposal teams and other personnel immediately cordoned off the area and began a thorough examination of the site. All aspects of the facility were being examined carefully and in light of the sensitivity of the installation and the serious nature of the threat, the government said.
Police said the email was similar to several anonymous threats received by other institutions in Bengaluru in the past few weeks. In the past week, similar bomb threat emails were sent to the Karnataka High Court and several schools in the city and caused massive evacuations and security checks. In all the cases, later investigations revealed that the threats were hoaxes.
Now investigators are investigating the origin of the email sent to ISRO and are working to catch the person or group behind it. Cyber experts are expected to analyse digital evidence, including the source and routing information of the email as part of the investigation.
The incident occurred just hours after Delhi Police arrested a man from Ghaziabad for a series of hoax bomb threats against several places over several days. Nishant Tyagi, the arrested man, is admitted in rehab for mental health problems, the family told investigators.
Police officials said preliminary investigations into the Ghaziabad case did not find any explosives, bomb-making materials, or evidence that the accused had the capability of carrying out an actual attack. His motive and whether he acted alone or was linked to similar hoax threats in other parts of the country are still being investigated.
The repeated circulation of fake bomb threat emails has become a growing concern for security agencies as every alert calls on police, bomb squads, emergency responders and cybercrime investigators. But even if the threat is false, governments have to follow standard operating procedures such as evacuation and search and rescue and so on to eliminate the risk to public safety.
Security is a top priority at ISRO, one of India’s top scientific institutions because the agency’s research and operations are very strategic. Any threat is taken seriously; security agencies carry out extensive inspections to ensure that the premises are safe.
Sections of BEL Road have been searched but there were no explosives or suspicious materials in them and officials believe the email is likely another hoax, they say.
