Three prominent engineering colleges in Bengaluru — Bangalore Institute of Technology, BMS College of Engineering, and MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology — received bomb threat emails on Friday, causing panic across the campuses. Upon being informed by college authorities, the Bengaluru city police launched an immediate investigation and later confirmed that the threats were hoaxes. The institutions promptly evacuated students and staff, while bomb disposal squads thoroughly searched the premises to ensure safety. The threatening emails, purportedly sent from the account of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S Ve Shekher, who is also a popular actor and former MLA, claimed that "bombs were placed in select colleges" as part of a broader conspiracy. The email alleged that the threats were meant to divert media attention from the "imminent Jaffer Sadiq case involving the DMK." It also accused Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Shankar Jiwal of collaborating with Pakistani ISI cells in Coimbatore to carry out this operation. The email further instructed the colleges not to mention Shekher or Tamil Nadu IPS officer V Balakrishnan’s involvement in alerting them about the supposed threat. The Bengaluru police, along with the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS), deployed canine units to sweep the campuses for suspicious objects. “We responded immediately after the colleges informed us of the email threat and ensured all protocols were followed. Evacuations were conducted swiftly, and our teams worked in coordination with college authorities to handle the situation,” said DCP South, Lokesh Jagalasar. After hours of searching, authorities confirmed that no explosives were found. “It was a hoax, but we are taking this very seriously. A case has been registered at Hanumantha Nagar police station, and we are investigating the source of the email,” the official added. He also mentioned that similar hoax emails, using the name of the Tamil Nadu BJP leader, were sent to institutions in Tamil Nadu. This is not the first time educational institutions have received hoax bomb threats through email. Earlier, in December 2023, around 70 schools in and around Bengaluru received hoax bomb threats via email. The Bengaluru police, who have launched an investigation into that case, have yet to make a breakthrough.
