Bhubaneswar: Panic gripped the Khordha District and Sessions Court complex in Bhubaneswar on Thursday after authorities received an email threatening to blow up the premises with a bomb. The threat triggered an immediate security response, with police, fire brigade personnel, bomb disposal squad, and dog squad rushing to the court complex to conduct a thorough search.
According to sources, the threatening email warned of a bomb explosion at the court, creating chaos among lawyers, litigants and others present on the premises. Police from Badagada Police Station reached the spot soon after the information surfaced and began an investigation.
Security teams carried out extensive searches at different sensitive locations inside the court complex using sniffer dogs and bomb detection equipment. After hours of checking, officials confirmed that no suspicious object was found and the threat appeared to be a hoax.
Senior lawyers present at the court said normalcy has since returned to the premises and appealed to the public not to panic. They added that investigations are underway to trace the source of the email and identify the person responsible for issuing the threat.
Police officials said efforts are on to determine who sent the email and why such a message was circulated to create panic in a sensitive public institution.
Notably, similar bomb threat emails have been sent to several courts in Odisha over the past few months. On March 9, a similar email warning was received at the Puri court, while another threat was reported on March 6. In both cases, security checks later confirmed the messages to be fake.
Earlier, on January 8, threatening emails were also sent to the Orissa High Court as well as the district courts in Sambalpur and Deogarh, triggering widespread alarm before authorities determined that the threats were hoaxes.
Police have intensified efforts to track down the source of these recurring emails amid concerns over attempts to spread fear and disrupt judicial functioning.
