Puthiya Thalaimurai office in Chennai receives hoax bomb threat
Email warns of RDX bombs at media group's HQ, but police search finds no explosives; sister publication The Federal also operates from that building in Chennai
An unidentified person sent an email to the Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police, claiming that four RDX bombs had been placed in the Puthiya Thalaimurai office, a news channel operating in Ekkattuthangal, Chennai, on November 2. The Federal, a sister organisation of Puthiya Thalaimurai, also operates in the same building.
The email, addressed to the DGP office, read: “Four RDX IEDs placed in Puthiya Thalaimurai Ekkattuthangal office. Blast to occur in four hours. Evacuate all soon.” The email was sent to the DGP office around 9:40 am on Sunday morning. The mail mentioned that bombs were placed in bathrooms and under desks.
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It further noted that the it was a response to the work done against the sender’s organisation. However, the email did not name the organisation or the news broadcast against it.
Heightened security
Upon receiving the threat email, the Chennai police alerted the Puthiya Thalaimurai office. Along with the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) team, a sniffer dog, and police personnel, they conducted a complete search inside the building, which lasted until 1:00 pm.
They found that the threat was a hoax. However, security was heightened on the premises.
Earlier, on October 10, a series of bomb threat messages were sent to the Puthiya Thalaimurai office and prominent Tamil Nadu journalists and YouTubers.