Bomb threats in Gujarat: Probe traces emails to Bangladesh and Pakistan

The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch said on Wednesday that two bomb threat emails sent in October appear to have been routed through Bangladesh and Pakistan, using old email accounts. The emails were sent to schools, courts, government offices and the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The threats came on October 7 and October 27 and named 35 locations in all. These included 24 schools, the Mayor’s Office, courts and the cricket stadium in Motera.

Police have registered two cases and are investigating them with central agencies.

According to the Cyber Crime Branch, the October 7 email threatened bomb blasts at 16 locations, including 10 schools, the Mayor’s Office, the Gujarat High Court, the Sola court, the Metro Court at Gheekanta, the District and Sessions Court in Ahmedabad and Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium.

The email was sent with the subject line “Time B00 MB at Gujarat Schools. @11:11AM” and used the email addresses "bonnieeubanks49@gmail.com" and "kwajids@gmail.com".

Also read: Railway board repeats 2014 order: No charging in trains from 11 pm to 5 am

The message, which invoked Khalistani organisations, urged people not to attend Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s shows and threatened explosions at Narendra Modi Stadium on November 21 and at Delhi’s JLN Stadium on November 1.

It also referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence and contained references to the Khalistan National Army and Babbar Khalsa, along with the names of several individuals.

The second email, received on October 27 from "reduak079@gmail.com", carried the subject line “Warning! BOMB Blast Ahmedabad Schools @ 1:11 PM”.

It threatened attacks at 19 locations, including 14 schools, the Mayor’s Office, two offices at Danapith, the Metro Court at Gheekanta, the City Civil Court in Ahmedabad and Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium.

The message again invoked Khalistani organisations and warned of bomb attacks linked to Dosanjh’s November 21 show.

It also threatened explosions involving iPhones, referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh violence and warned people against travelling through Motera Stadium Metro Station on November 21.

The Cyber Crime Branch said it had registered cases in connection with both emails under Sections 351(3), 351(4), 353(1)(b) and 61 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66(c) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Police visited the affected schools and court premises and examined email headers and information obtained from Gmail to trace the origin of the messages.

Preliminary findings indicated that the email accounts used to send the threats had been operated from Bangladesh and Pakistan.

"The October 7 email was traced to accounts apparently operated from Bangladesh and Rawalpindi in Pakistan, while the October 27 email appeared to have been operated from Rangpur in Bangladesh and Lahore in Pakistan," the police said.

The investigation has also drawn on an earlier case involving similar bomb threats issued in the name of Khalistani organisations.

During that investigation, an accused was arrested in West Bengal. Police found that he had sold hacked Gmail accounts to a person based in Bangladesh.

During further questioning, the Bangladesh-based individual disclosed that he sold the accounts to a person in Pakistan and received payments in cryptocurrency, according to officials.

Investigators have found that some people based in Pakistan are allegedly behind the bomb threat emails, which are sent ahead of festivals and other major events to spread fear and panic among the public.

They are also alleged to be buying old or compromised email accounts from people in Bangladesh and other places, through Telegram and WhatsApp groups.

The Cyber Crime Branch said the probe into both cases is on, along with central agencies.