Photo credit: PTI
At least six courts in West Bengal received bomb threats on Tuesday, triggering evacuations and extensive security operations, PTI reported citing officials. Judicial proceedings were disrupted across the state.The city sessions court and the CJM (Bankshall) court in Kolkata, the sub‑divisional courts at Asansol and Durgapur in Paschim Bardhaman district, and the courts at Chuchura and Arambagh in Hooghly district reportedly received threat emails in the morning, a senior police officer was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.Security personnel, including bomb squad teams and sniffer dogs, conducted thorough searches at all affected court complexes, but no explosive materials were found, the officer added.The City Sessions Court and the CJM (Bankshall) Court were evacuated after the threatening messages arrived. Kolkata Police bomb squad teams combed the entire premises before normal judicial work was allowed to resume. Similar search operations were carried out at the other courts.Officials were questioned on whether the simultaneous bomb threats were connected to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being undertaken by judicial officers. Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal said: “I think the police are already probing the bomb threats, and whether they are linked to any ongoing election‑related exercise in the courts.” He added that the state police must investigate, ascertain the truth and identify those behind what appeared to be hoax messages, news agency PTI reported.At a hastily convened press briefing at the state secretariat, Nabanna, chief secretary Nandini Chakravorty said authorities have launched a probe to trace the origin of the emails and determine whether they were sent by an individual or a group.Ms Chakravorty, flanked by West Bengal DGP Piyush Pandey and Kolkata Commissioner of Police Supratim Sarkar, reiterated the government’s commitment to the safety of judicial officers and personnel involved in the SIR process.“All safety measures were taken, and a thorough check was conducted. However, nothing was found. The work at the courts resumed after the search,” she said.Asked whether all the emails used identical language or sender details, she said: “Our investigating agencies are looking into all these aspects.”Commissioner Sarkar confirmed the involvement of the Kolkata Police cyber crime cell, coordinating with state agencies “to trace the server and domain”.
