KOLKATA/RAJKOT/TIRUPATI: Nearly two dozen hotels across Kolkata, Tirupati and Rajkot went into a tizzy on Saturday after emailed bomb threats that eventually turned out to be a hoax, deepening fears that the festival season menace so far aimed at flights and airports was spreading to other key sectors.
In Kolkata, at least 10 major hotels — most of them star properties — received the emails on a day home minister Amit Shah was visiting Bengal. Although the usual anti-bomb drills were activated, nothing was found. “The emails followed the same pattern as hoax threats to schools earlier this year,” said a Kolkata cop.
Kolkata police alerted central agencies given the multiple threats to flights over the past week. Top officers said the email sender used a pseudonym — Reality Is Fake. “I have planted bombs on the grounds of your hotel. The bombs are hidden in black bags. They will detonate soon. You have little time to live. Evacuate,” one email reportedly stated.
In Tirupati, the threat was sent to three hotels Saturday, deepening a pattern as four properties in the Andhra city had been targeted in the past two days. All turned out to be hoaxes.
The threat emails referred to Jaffer Sadiq, alleged kingpin of a major drug racket nabbed by central agencies in July. Saturday’s threats mentioned two other names — TN deputy CM Udayanidhi Stalin’s wife Kiruthiga and TN DGP Shankar Jiwal.
The email mentioned “Afzal Guru will be re-born! Al-Badr!” — referring to the 2001 Parliament attack convict executed in 2013. The email also claimed Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s car was twinned with hotel “IEDs”.
In Gujarat’s Rajkot, 10 hotels simultaneously received emails around 12.45pm Saturday from the same ID, “Kan Din”, threatening explosions. Rajkot DCP Parthrajsinh Gohil said the hotels were searched but nothing suspicious was found.
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