Indore: High-Security, High-Footfall Locations Listed In Emails; 11 Hoax Bomb Threats Over Year, Police Could Nab Only 1 Sender

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Over the past year, Indore has received 11 hoax bomb threats targeting various institutions via emails. However, police investigations have succeeded in identifying the sender only in one case, the rest remain unsolved.

The threats targeted high-security and high-footfall locations: four were directed at the Indore airport, two at schools, and one each at the IIT campus, a PNB bank branch, a hospital, the HPCL plant, and Holkar Cricket Stadium. Each incident prompted urgent security responses and temporary evacuations, disrupting regular activities. 

The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), along with sniffer dogs, thoroughly examined each location. All threats were found to be hoaxes, with no explosives recovered. Police have registered cases against unidentified accused in all the cases. The sender could be traced and arrested only in the IIT campus case. In most instances, the emails were sent from southern states.

Police officials said they are working to trace the IP addresses used to send the threatening emails. They have also submitted official requests to email service providers such as Google and Microsoft for assistance.

Cyber expert Gourav Rawal explained, “Every internet user, device, and router generates an IP address, often referred to as a digital footprint, which connects through a server. Six Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) manage and distribute internet number resources, including IP addresses and Autonomous System (AS) numbers, globally. India falls under the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), which oversees Southern Asia and the Pacific region. Service providers have their nodal officers based in Singapore, acting as intermediaries”

Legal process

Service providers & nodal officers

Different service providers have their nodal officers in Singapore who act as intermediaries. These officers are the point of contact for legal and law enforcement queries in the region.

Legal procedure to access IP info

If India’s law enforcement agencies want information about an IP address, they must send a notice under Section 91 of the CrPC. Law enforcement must follow a legal process to obtain IP data.

Delays and backlogs

It depends on the urgency of the matter, as a lot of complaints are raised in the region. The response time from service providers depends on the priority of the case. Many requests are pending, which causes delays.

Complications due to VPNs and proxy servers

VPNs and proxy servers could also delay the procedure as IP addresses frequently change in them. VPNs and proxies hide the user’s actual IP address. This makes it much harder to trace the original sender.

Issues when IPs belong to other RIRs

If an IP address is generated under a different RIR rather than APNIC, it becomes more difficult, as service providers may deny providing information, requiring intervention from both governments. When an IP is registered in a different region (like the US or Europe), cooperation becomes harder. In such cases, international legal cooperation may be needed to obtain the required data.

Rajesh Dandotiya, Additional DCP, Crime Branch said “Several institutions have received bomb threats via email. We are currently extracting information from the emails' IP addresses. FIRs have been registered at the concerned police stations, and the sender will be identified soon.”

Now, Bombay Hospital receives bomb hoax through email

Bombay Hospital received a bomb threat mail on their official e-mail ID, creating a panic-like situation there, police said on Sunday. A case has been registered against an unidentified email sender and the hospital was thoroughly searched but no bomb or explosive was recovered from there.

 According to Lasudia police station in charge Taresh Kumar Soni, hospital’s Director Administration Rahul Parashar has lodged a complaint that a bomb threat was received from the mail divijprabhakaralakshmi@gmail.com to the hospital’s email id msofficebhi@gmail.com on May 9. After seeing the email, he tightened the security of the hospital and immediately informed the police. A case under section 351 (4) of the BNS was registered against an unidentified email sender and started an investigation to identify him.

 Soni said that soon after receiving information, the hospital was searched with the help of BDDS but no bomb or explosives were found. The information in the email is found to be fake.   

 It is noteworthy that antisocial elements had also given a bomb hoax on the official email ID to MPCA a couple of days ago. Tukoganj police have registered a case and during a search it was found that the threat was fake.

Hoax bomb threats