Hoax bomb threat disrupts judicial work at Muzaffarpur civil court

Patna: Panic gripped the Muzaffarpur civil court on Thursday after the district judge’s official email received a bomb threat around 11.30am, prompting the immediate evacuation of the entire court complex and disrupting judicial work till the afternoon. A thorough search operation was launched, after which officials confirmed the threat to be a hoax—the third such incident reported at the court this year.

Muzaffarpur Civil Court advocate Arun Kumar said that orders were issued to evacuate the premises soon after the threat email was received. “This is the third time such information has been received this year. Similar threats were reported earlier on Jan 28 and Feb 13,” he said.

Suspecting the involvement of mischief-makers, Kumar urged the administration to conduct a serious investigation and take strict action against those responsible for creating panic through fake threats.

Another advocate, Subodh Kumar Jha, said information was circulated through a WhatsApp group that court work in the first half would remain suspended and filing would resume after 3pm. “When I reached the court, the offices were locked and everyone was being asked to move outside,” he said.

Town-1 SDPO Suresh Kumar said that the threat was taken seriously and an investigation was immediately initiated. He said that the dog squad and bomb disposal squad conducted an intensive search of the entire court premises, checking all suspicious and unclaimed objects.

“No suspicious object was found during the search. The bomb threat turned out to be a hoax,” the SDPO said, adding that security agencies are keeping a close watch on the situation. He appealed to people not to pay attention to rumours and to cooperate with the administration.