A hoax bomb threat sent via email to the regional passport office in Calcutta on Thursday triggered a security sweep and mass evacuations. The disruption affected the head office, Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs), and post office PSKs, halting operations for several hours.
More than 600 people were evacuated from the Kasba PSK and regional passport office on Brabourne Road, causing inconvenience to those who had queued outside the
passport offices on Thursday morning and afternoon between 11.30am and 1.30pm.
Sources said an email that was sent to the regional passport office email id mentioned a bomb threat, mentioning that “10 cyanide gas-infused RDX IEDs have been planted in the office that would blast at 1.15pm.”
Passport officials alerted Kolkata Police.
The city police’s bomb disposal squad was activated. Sniffer dogs were brought in, but nothing suspicious was found in any of the venues, police said.
Earlier this week, a similar email was sent to several courts across the state, triggering panic and safety protocol in the courtrooms.
An investigation is in progress, said the police.
A senior official of the passport department said the alert was sounded at all passport offices across the state, including the head office at Brabourne Road, the Kasba PSK and four other PSKs in Siliguri, Gangtok, Berhampore and Agartala. The alert was also sounded across 42 post office PSKs.
Many who had appointments scheduled at the Kasba PSK office on Thursday were evacuated. They had to wait till the security drill was over. Many who were stuck in the scorching sun outside the PSK complained that they were unable to reschedule their
appointments.
“I stay in Hyderabad. My appointment was scheduled for noon. I arrived here half an hour ago. I went inside and waited in the queue for 30 minutes. After the security alert, we were all asked to move outside. I am not sure when exactly my turn will come. I wanted to reschedule, but that option is also not showing on the website,” said a resident of south Calcutta.
An elderly resident of Ballygunge, who was among the hundreds waiting outside Kasba PSK on Thursday afternoon, said she was clueless about how she would be able to join her son abroad if her passport processing was delayed.
The security drill started around 11.30am and finished by 1.30pm.
Operations in the passport offices across the state resumed after that.
“We have not cancelled any appointments today. Although there was a two-hour disruption, work resumed thereafter. We understand that many people were inconvenienced, but adherence to protocol was necessary,” said a senior officer from the regional passport office in Calcutta.