Kolkata’s iconic Indian Museum received a bomb threat via email on Friday, following which police and the bomb disposal squad were deployed to search and sanitise the over 200-year-old building.
Entry for visitors has been temporarily restricted as police operations are underway. According to the authorities, the email was sent from an account named ‘Terroriser 111’. The sender claimed that bombs were planted inside the museum.
“The threat mail stated that several bombs were planted inside the Indian Museum, and those would explode any moment. A thorough search of the museum building is underway,” a senior police officer told PTI.
Apart from the bomb squad, sniffer dogs, a quick response team (QRT) and a large contingent of police have been positioned in and around the building in the heart of the city. The cyber section of the police has also started a probe to trace the source of the email, the officer said.
Founded in 1814, the Indian Museum is the earliest and the largest multipurpose museum not only in the Indian subcontinent but also in the Asia-Pacific region, as per information on its website.
