Coimbatore passport offices receive hoax bomb threats

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore passport office received an email on Monday morning stating that bomb blasts would happen at two passport offices in the city and one in Pollachi. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) conducted thorough searches and declared it a hoax threat. The email stated that poison gas-infused RDX had been placed inside the regional passport office near Thandu Mariamman Temple on the Avinashi Road, the passport seva kendra near SITRA and the post office passport seva kendra in Pollachi. The sender of the email, who used the name “Arna Ashwin Sekar,” asked authorities to evacuate people from all the three premises.Officials informed the Coimbatore city police, who alerted the BDDS and the K9 dog squad. Two separate teams reached the passport offices in the city and conducted intensive searches. After an hour of searches, police found nothing suspicious. Similarly, the BDDS of the Coimbatore district police conducted a search at the passport office in Pollachi and declared it a hoax bomb threat.