Police on toes over another threat to blow up government buildings

Times News NetworkChandigarh: Yet again, Punjab Civil Secretariat and Chandigarh District Court received a bomb threat via e-mail. In a repeat of the chain of events triggered by the mail, sent repeatedly over the past few days, UT Police and other security agencies reached the spot and launched a search operation after evacuating the buildings. Like before, police said they did not find any suspicious object in any of the buildings. The premises were eventually declared safe.
Police said miscreants sent an e-mail threatening to blow up the Punjab Civil Secretariat at 2.11pm and the District Court complex at 3.11pm. Immediately, secretariat officials informed the Chandigarh police. Teams from the sector 11 police station, sector 3 police station, fire tenders, bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS), besides quick reaction team (QRT) reached the spot. An extensive search covering every nook and cranny of the secretariat and court complex was carried out in the presence of officials concerned but no explosive object was found. Thereafter, the bomb diposal squad issued a clearance certificate.At the same time, a search operation was conducted on the district court premises for security reasons. Sector 36 police, along with the bomb disposal squad, QRT, and fire brigade teams, checked all parts of the court premises, and no suspicious material was recovered there either. Bomb disposal squad in-charge, ASI Jagpal, handed over the written clearance certificate to officials concerned. Police said prima facie, the threat appeared to have been a hoax. Investigation was initiated to identify the sender. While there was chaos on both premises in the wake of the threats, the situation returned to normal after investigations. MSID:: 128557172 413 |