The Reserve Bank of India’s Mumbai office received a threatening email on Tuesday conveying bomb threats targeted at a total of 11 locations across the financial capital, including prominent banks.
The email, purportedly sent by a sender identifying himself as ‘Khilafat India’, warned of bomb blasts by 1:30 pm on Tuesday while demanding the immediate resignation of RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Apart from the central bank headquarters, bomb threats were also received by leading private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, prompting a swift response from authorities. Preliminary investigations revealed the email accused the Finance Minister and RBI of being involved in the “biggest scam in the history of India.”
After being alerted, Mumbai Police launched exhaustive search operations covering all the 11 places mentioned as targets in the email. Bomb detection squads scoured the sites but did not find any explosive materials till the deadline passed. An FIR has been registered at the MRA Marg Police Station and cyber teams are tracing the email’s origin.
While the possibility of planted bombs has been ruled out for now, police officials said the threats are being taken very seriously, particularly due to the traumatic memory of the deadly 1993 Mumbai blasts orchestrated by fugitive mafia don Dawood Ibrahim.
The blasts had targeted 12 locations and claimed 257 lives while grievously wounding over 700 in the first-ever serial bombings of such nature. Police sources assured that all critical financial institutions are under heightened monitoring and surveillance systems have been activated to pre-empt any mischief.
Forensic experts pointed out that the email seems to have been drafted to cause alarm and make an impact rather than an actual bomb threat. But investigators are probing all angles given the grave implications and the iconic status of the targeted institutions. Officials expressed confidence that the culprits behind the threats would be caught soon.
