Hoax bomb threats trigger police alert in Tirupati, no explosives found

Tirupati: The hoax bomb threats continue to haunt the pilgrim city and keep the police on tenterhooks. A series of these hoax bomb threats were received on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, which have been causing tension among people as well.

While about six hotels received threat mails in the three days along with Star Airlines flight, on Sunday a famous temple on KT Road was also added to the list.

Tirupati police were on high alert as two hotels – Pai Viceroy and Renest and Sri Varadaraja Swamy temple received emails on Sunday claiming bombs had been planted on their premises. Significantly, Pai Viceroy and Renest hotels have got the threat mails on all three days. The messages, purportedly sent in the name of terrorist groups, invoked a significant law enforcement response, though all threats were found to be false.

The recent series of email threats began on Thursday, affecting hotels across the city. The emails continued on Saturday and Sunday forcing the police to launch a vigorous search through bomb squads and sniffer dogs. After thorough checks were carried out, the police found no explosives in the hotels or at the temple.Superintendent of Police Tirupati, L Subbarayudu, confirmed that they were treating each threat seriously. “We reacted swiftly when we received complaints and our teams conducted thorough checks. All these threats turned out to be hoaxes. We have booked cases and are investigating further.”

It may be recalled that the emails implicated political figures, mentioning Jaffer Sadiq, a former DMK member, whose recent arrest on drug trafficking charges allegedly prompted “international pressure.”

The messages also alluded to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, attempting to link the threats to political tensions. Police are working closely with the cybercrimes unit to trace the source of the emails.