A hoax bomb threat put Odisha police on high alert on Thursday.

The district courts of Cuttack, Deogarh and Sambalpur on Thursday received an e-mail that threatened to blow them up with a bomb. The police were alerted and carried out an extensive combing operation on the court premises. Nothing was found.

The director-general of police (DGP) office in a release said: “An anonymous e-mail containing a threat to damage court premises has been received at several courts. The police have taken cognizance of the matter and initiated a thorough investigation. As a precautionary measure, police checking and enhanced security arrangements have been put in place at all concerned locations. The situation is under close monitoring. The public is advised not to panic and to cooperate with the police in maintaining security and assisting the investigation.”

The email stated that RDX explosives had been planted in the court premises and the blast would take place at 2.45pm. As a precaution, police evacuated people from the court premises. A thorough checking was held at courtrooms, corridors, offices and other areas to ward off any potential threat.

(DGP) Y.B. Khurania appealed people not to panic. Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi took up the matter with the senior police officials to ensure that law and order be maintained.

Canine squads and bomb disposal squads were deployed and frisking was conducted. The court proceedings were disrupted in three places, bringing huge inconvenience to the advocates and the litigants. Later in the evening, Majhi reviewed on the law and order situation of the state.

However, the courts later resumed operations in the afternoon after police confirmed that it was a hoax. Law minister Prithviraj Harichandan said: “The chief minister has ordered a probe. The source of the emails will be traced. The court procedures resumed normally.”

Talking to media-persons at the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headquarters, party spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said: “The safety of judicial institutions, including judges, lawyers, litigants, court staff and the general public, is of paramount importance. The concerned authorities must conduct an immediate, detailed and impartial investigation into this threat.”