Mumbai: A bomb threat email was sent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and two other banks in Mumbai on Tuesday, demanding the resignation of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. The email, which claimed to be from ‘Khilafat India’, warned that bombs had been planted at 11 locations in the city, including the RBI office, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank. The email gave a deadline of 1:30 pm for the demands to be met, failing which the bombs would be detonated one by one.
The RBI received the email at 10:50 am and was immediately reported to the Mumbai Police. The police commissioner B. Dayananda said that anti-sabotage and bomb detection squads were deployed to verify and ascertain the threat, which seemed to be a hoax. He also said that all efforts would be made to trace the culpritsĀ³. A special cybercrime team was also pressed in to track down the sender using the masked IP address.
The police visited all the 11 locations mentioned in the email and conducted a thorough search, but found nothing suspicious. The schools and offices near the locations were also alerted and evacuated as a precautionary measure. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok visited some of the schools and pacified the parents and staff.
The bomb threat email created panic and chaos in the financial capital of the country, which has witnessed several terror attacks in the past. The email also raised questions about the security of the RBI and other banks, which handle sensitive and confidential information. The email also came at a time when the country is facing an economic slowdown and a banking crisis.
The police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act and are investigating the matter. The police are also probing whether the email was linked to any terror outfit or was a prank by some miscreantāµ. The police have appealed to the public not to panic and cooperate with the security agencies.
