A wave of security alerts swept across Gujarat on Tuesday after several key judicial and administrative institutions received emails threatening devastating RDX explosions. The coordinated threats prompted large-scale evacuations and intensive searches by security forces, though no suspicious materials were ultimately discovered.
Widespread Threats Target State Institutions
The threats were not isolated. The Gujarat High Court in Ahmedabad was among the primary targets. According to Sola police station inspector K N Bhukan, the court received an email explicitly threatening to blow up the premises using the high explosive RDX. In response, police personnel, the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), and a dog squad immediately evacuated the building and conducted a thorough search. Entry was only resumed after security clearance confirmed no threat.
The scare extended far beyond the state's high court. District courts in Surat, Anand, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, and Bharuch received similar threatening communications. The collector offices in Gandhinagar and Bharuch were also targeted. This incident followed a pattern, as a sessions court in Ahmedabad had received a comparable threat just a day earlier, on Monday.
Security Response and Evacuation Protocols
Officials noted that the threat emails followed a similar format and contained alarming claims. The messages purported to have links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and made references to members of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP). One specific email warned of three suicide explosions using RDX and instructed judges to vacate the court premises by 1:55 PM.
At the Gandhinagar collector's office, an email directed an evacuation before lunchtime. Police were swiftly alerted, and a comprehensive search was launched. The BDDS later confirmed that nothing suspicious was found on the premises. In Surat, the district court received a threat email around 2 AM, leading to searches that continued into the afternoon. As a precaution, only urgent matters were heard to avoid crowding.
Investigations Underway, Unattended Drone Found
The security operations, while thorough, yielded no explosives. In Ahmedabad, proceedings at the city civil and sessions court were suspended for checks after a threat was received at the registry on Tuesday morning. This came within 24 hours of a similar threat to the rural court on Monday. Both searches by bomb and dog squads proved fruitless.
A curious incident occurred during searches at the Rajkot district and sessions court. The Special Operations Group (SOG) team discovered an unattended drone, causing momentary alarm. Police later confirmed the device belonged to a lawyer from Mehsana and had no explosives installed. The lawyer was questioned for clarification.
Police have now launched a full-scale investigation to trace the origin of the emails and determine the intent behind them, assessing whether the primary goal was to create widespread panic and disrupt the functioning of the state's judicial and administrative systems. The coordinated nature of the threats across multiple cities has raised serious concerns among security agencies.
