On Tuesday (5th March), Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and several officials received a threatening e-mail warning of a bomb blast in the state. The sender warned of carrying out a bomb blast in the state’s capital, Bengaluru, the coming Saturday, and demanded a ransom of around Rs 20 crores ($2.5 million) to avert the blast. Police have launched a probe into this bomb threat case.
According to ANI, the threat email was sent by a person named Shahid Khan, who threatened that an explosion would rock Bengaluru at 2:48 pm on Saturday. The email was sent by a person using the email address Shahidkhan10786@protonmail.com.
According to media reports, the threatening e-mail was addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, the Home Minister, and the Bengaluru Police Commissioner.
In the e-mail, the sender Shahid Khan threatened that explosions could rock busy places such as restaurants, temples, buses, or trains. The sender also warned of planting bombs during public events.
Additionally, through the threat mail, Khan demanded a ransom of more than Rs 20 crore (2.5 million dollars) stating that a bomb blast would take place if the demand is not met.
The threatening e-mail read, “What are your thoughts on the movie trailer? If you don’t provide us with 2.5 million dollars, we will cause large explosions on buses, trains, temples, hotels, and public areas throughout Karnataka.”
It further added, “We want to show you one more trailer. We are going to explode the next one in the Ambari Utsav bus. After the Ambari Utsav bus blast, we will raise our demands on social media. And will upload screenshots of the mail sent to you on social media. We will tweet information about the next explosion.”
Bengaluru City Crime Branch police have registered a suo moto case on the same day and an investigation is underway in the bomb threat e-mail matter.
Earlier in the day, on Tuesday (5th March), the Karnataka Police arrested one accused named Mohammed Rasool Kaddare for posting a video on social media in which he threatened to kill PM Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath if Congress comes to power. The arrest was made after an FIR was registered at Surpur police station in Karnataka’s Yadgiri.
OpIndia visited the Facebook profile of Mohammed Rasool Kaddare and found that the contentious video featuring him with a sword and abusing PM Modi and Yogi Adityanath has been deleted. We stumbled upon a ‘Facebook reel’ uploaded by the Islamist in January this year wherein he was seen hailing slain Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein for attacking the Jewish State of Israel.
Bomb threat after an IED blast took place in a Bengaluru cafe
These developments come days after an improvised explosive device (IED) blast rocked Rameshwaram Cafe, a popular eatery in Bengaluru on 1st March. At least 10 people were injured in the blast who are undergoing treatment at hospitals.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into the explosion.
During the probe into the Bengaluru Rameshwaram Cafe blast, reports have emerged suggesting a possible link between the suspect and the Ballari ISIS module.
As per reports citing official sources, several similarities have been noted between the blast and the cases linked to the ISIS module, although whether the ISIS Ballari module is still active is yet to be confirmed. One of the similarities mentioned in the reports is the assembly of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Moreover, the execution of the blast also appears to have similarities with previous such blasts in the state including the Mangaluru cooker blast. Notably, in December last year, the NIA arrested eight terrorists in the ISIS Ballari module case including its leader Minaz.