Chennai, Aug 27 Panic gripped Tamil Nadu on Wednesday after bomb threats were issued against the residence of former Chief Minister and AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami in Chennai, as well as the regional passport office in Coimbatore.
According to police sources, an email was received in the morning claiming that explosives had been planted inside the passport office in Coimbatore and that they would detonate soon.
Around the same time, a separate threat was directed at Palaniswami's residence on Greenways Road in Chennai, warning that a bomb had been installed on the premises and would explode without delay.
The twin threats triggered swift action from law enforcement authorities.
Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS), along with sniffer dogs, were immediately deployed at both locations.
At the former Chief Minister's residence, security was intensified and the premises were combed thoroughly by police teams.
Similar searches were carried out at the Coimbatore passport office, where anxious employees and visitors were evacuated as precautionary measures.
Officials later confirmed that no suspicious objects had been found at either site, but security checks continued for several hours to rule out any possibility of danger.
Senior police officers described the threats as "highly disruptive" and said that the emails are being traced to determine their origin. Cybercrime investigators have been roped in to identify the sender.
The threats, coming on the same day and targeting two high-profile locations, sparked widespread concern.
"Even though nothing has been found so far, we cannot take any chances. Every bomb threat has to be treated with utmost seriousness until proven false," a police official said.
This is not the first time public institutions and political leaders in Tamil Nadu have received such threats.
Authorities noted that hoax calls and emails have often been used to create panic, but reiterated that stringent action would be taken against those responsible once identified.
For now, normalcy has returned at the Coimbatore passport office and at Palaniswami's residence, but police have heightened surveillance and are keeping a close watch.
The incident has once again raised questions about the misuse of technology for spreading fear and the strain such hoaxes place on security resources.
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