Fresh wave of hoax bomb threats targets Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan's office, residence and Kochi airport
According to police officials, the latest in the string of identical bomb threats also targeted the office of the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, Kerala, on Monday.
They said the sender identified himself as Abdul Anulappados, possibly a false identity.
The sender claimed that an anonymous saboteur had planted a 'sulfur and RDX-based improvised explosive device (IED)' at Cliff House, the official residence of the Chief Minister of Kerala.
The threat-maker said the IED would 'explode at 14.30 hours' on Monday. The individual demanded the immediate evacuation of Mr. Vijayan from the residence.
The sender claimed that a Coimbatore-based 'crystal-meth cartel' wanted to 'assassinate' Mr. Vijayan to 'derail his attempt to staunch the inflow of synthetic drugs from Tamil Nadu into Kerala.'
According to police officials, the sender blamed Jaffer Sadique, a DMK activist arrested on drug charges by the Tamil Nadu Police in Chennai in July 2024, for 'planting the bomb'.
The sender claimed that a 'rogue IPS' officer in Tamil Nadu aided the drug cartel and used an encrypted software, Galileo, to make airline, courier, hotel, travel and car rental reservations for international drug smuggling.
A top official told The Hindu that the threat-maker spoofed his/her identity by using dynamic VPN addresses and IP-based internet telephony networks that were vulnerable to hacking and hostile takeover.
He said the police suspect the scaremonger to be an individual rather than a group of persons working for non-State actors, including terrorist organisations, as suspected initially.
The Kerala and Tamil Nadu police have launched a joint investigation. 'The threat-maker had targeted key facilities in Tamil Nadu last month before pivoting to Kerala', he added. The State police also worked with Central agencies to probe the threat nationally.
Another investigator said the threat-maker appeared to be exploiting the tense national atmosphere prevalent in the country following the Pahalgam terror attack to sow panic.
He said the e-mail threats, prima facie, followed a pattern linked to a similar string of bomb scares targeting schools in New Delhi last year. 'It could be a typical copycat crime. There also seemed to be a political motive linked to Tamil Nadu', he added.
Mere hoaxes
Investigators said the threats so far were not credible and were mere hoaxes.
However, they said the aim could be to cause disruption, stretch law enforcement resources thin, fatigue quick reaction forces and emergency responders or study the response of the State's security apparatus, including reaction time and methods.
Investigators said false alarms might also be designed to overwhelm security systems so something credibly lethal could slip through. Bomb scares also caused tremendous public anxiety.
A fake bomb threat at the Thiruvananthapuram airport and the Central Railway Station caused minor disruption on Sunday. On Saturday, several top hotels, courts and district collectorates reported bomb threats, which later proved to be a hoax. Nevertheless, disruption and some financial losses resulted.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
25 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Last-minute change in KEAM standardisation sparks protests
The sudden change in the KEAM-2025 (Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical entrance test) standardisation formula has left many students feeling frustrated and disillusioned as it impacted their expected ranks. A number of students have lodged complaints with the government, claiming that the normalisation method used this year was unfair and illogical. Last year, State higher secondary students had suffered due to the flawed standardisation process by the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (CEE), which conducts KEAM. This year, however, CBSE and ICSE students are facing the brunt of it. The Unaided Schools Protection Council (USPC), an umbrella body of private schools, has moved the High Court against the new standardisation method. 'It is extremely discriminatory and illogical. Taking the subject topper's mark as a benchmark for standardisation is unfair,' said Jouhar M., USPC Malappuram district president. Several students affected by the new methodology too are joining the case. T. Fida from Chathamangalam, Kozhikode, and Devanarayanan from Ponnad, Alappuzha, are among them. The government decision has evoked widespread criticism for changing the rules on the eve of the announcement of the results. 'The rules of the game cannot be changed after the game has finished,' said Devanarayanan in a complaint to Higher Education Minister R. Bindu, quoting a Supreme Court judgement. The change in the weightage of higher secondary marks for mathematics, physics and chemistry from 1:1:1 formula to 5:3:2 has also been criticised. 'Having better weightage for mathematics may be good for engineering courses. But the implementation of the new rule after the examination is ridiculously unfair,' said higher education expert C. Mohammed Ajmal. He said the CEE had a moral obligation to inform the students about such changes in advance. 'If they had done so, it would have allowed students to tailor their studies and make informed decisions about where to focus,' said Mr. Ajmal. He also criticised the government for changing the rules 'in the game's injury time'. 'None can agree to this change irrespective of whether they are logical or no,' he said, warning that people seeking legal remedy would further delay and complicate the admissions through KEAM. While other entrance examinations, such as JEE, have progressed with their admission processes, KEAM has been delayed. The standardisation issue is expected to cause further delays in the process.
Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Bail jumper in 2004 MBBS admission racket held after 20 years
New Delhi: A 63-year-old civil engineer turned fraudster who jumped bail and evaded arrest for two decades was apprehended by Delhi Police's Crime Branch. Rajesh Rajput was part of a gang that lured parents through newspaper advertisements, promising MBBS admissions under management quota in reputed medical colleges. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Rajput, a resident of Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, was declared a proclaimed offender in 2006 in a cheating case registered with Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police. "In 2004, he and his associates allegedly duped a doctor from Odisha of Rs 4 lakh on the pretext of securing an MBBS seat for his son through management quota," DCP (crime) Harsh Indora said. The Odisha-based doctor fell into the trap and paid the amount, only to realise he was conned. "A case was registered at Shalimar Bagh police station and later transferred to the EOW for investigation. Rajput was initially arrested but absconded soon after securing bail, failing to appear for court proceedings. He was subsequently declared a proclaimed offender in February 2006," DCP Indora added. Crime Branch team received a tip-off about Rajput's whereabouts. On July 1, the team conducted a pre-dawn operation to Saharanpur and managed to locate Rajput at his home. "Initially, he denied his identity, but during sustained interrogation at Crime Branch office in Delhi, he confessed. His identity was confirmed through cross-checks with police station Shalimar Bagh and the EOW," a senior police officer said.
New Indian Express
44 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Poaching threats rise in Ranthambore after recovery of bones of three tigers
JAIPUR: Are tigers in Rajasthan's Ranthambore Tiger Reserve the latest targets of an international poaching network? That's the disturbing question creating buzz among wildlife lovers. It comes following the shocking revelations after the arrest of a poaching gang in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh, during a joint operation by the Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force, the Rajasthan Forest Department, and Sawai Madhopur-based NGO Tiger Watch last month. Among those arrested were Dauji Bhil and Sunita Dauji, residents of Dausa in Rajasthan, and Besta Bhil, a resident of Sheopur. The forest team recovered around 225 big cat bones, including skulls resembling those of tigers, from the possession of the accused. The seized remains were sent to Jabalpur for forensic analysis, which confirmed that they belonged to at least three tigers and a panther. The samples have now been forwarded to the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru for DNA matching to determine the origin of the animals. Madhya Pradesh forest officials have formally requested the Rajasthan Forest Department to share DNA profiles of tigers from Ranthambore to assist in the matching process.
