Hoax bomb threat emails trigger evacuation at Bengaluru DRDO lab

BENGALURU: Multiple emails threatening a bomb attack were sent to the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a Defence Research and Development Organisation lab under Byappanahalli police limits, police said on Monday.

Following the threat, the premises were evacuated and a thorough search was carried out by police along with the bomb disposal squad and fire services. The threat was later declared a hoax.

The email, written in Tamil, claimed that Improvised Explosive Devices had been planted on the premises and would explode around 1.30pm, officials said.

Authorities added that the sender also warned of a plot to kidnap the grandson of an influential Tamil Nadu politician.

The message, reportedly sent from an ID “Kiruthiha.udhayanidhi@hotmail”, allegedly threatened to abduct Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin’s grandson, Inbanidhi.

The Central Crime Branch has intensified its probe to trace the sender. As a precaution, security has been stepped up at defence establishments across the city, officials said.