Back-to-back emails threatening bomb explosions, sent to senior judges, rocked at least five Bengal courts, including one in Calcutta, on Tuesday at a time when judicial officers were extensively involved in presiding over the ongoing SIR process.

A source said the first email was sent to the official account of the district judge of West Burdwan in Asansol. Shortly thereafter, several courts, including the City Sessions Court in Calcutta, also known as the Bankshall Court, informed their respective police stations about similar emails.

An additional district judge’s court in Durgapur, the district judge’s court in Hooghly’s Chinsurah, and the district judge’s court in Murshidabad’s Berhampore also received the threat mails. The emails said IED-type bombs had been installed on the court premises and could explode at any time.

The respective police stations immediately informed their superiors, and large police teams, along with bomb squad personnel, reached the spots to check whether there were any bombs inside or outside the courts. Most courts were vacated by the judges concerned, and legal proceedings were halted for over an hour until the police ensured that no explosives had been planted either inside the courtrooms or outside.

Debaprasad Nath, the district judge of West Burdwan, told journalists: “The mail was likely a hoax. I ordered the court to be vacated purely as a safety measure.”

A police source said the text of the emails was similar, and they were claimed to have been sent from Tamil Nadu. However, the police believe the source of the emails couldn’t be confirmed until the IP addresses are traced through a proper investigation.

“We have to cross-check and verify the IP address to ascertain where it was generated. Police have already started a probe to trace the origin of the emails,” said a senior police officer.

Most senior judges, including district judges, are part of the SIR process after the Supreme Court ordered their involvement. Many insiders suspect that the emails were sent to create panic among those judicial officers for vested interests.

Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Agarwal said the state should ensure the safety and security of judges involved in the SIR process. Chief secretary Nandini Chakraborty held a news conference in Nabanna and claimed that the Bengal government had been actively working to ensure their safety.

The BJP and the Trinamool Congress have put forward their own narratives regarding the emails and hoax bomb threats.

BJP leader and the leader of the Opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, accused Bangladeshi outfits such as Jamaat-e-Islami and demanded an NIA probe, alleging that those trying to protect infiltrators’ names on the electoral rolls could be involved in the bomb threats.

“I think militant outfits from Bangladesh are involved in this threat mail, and those who want to keep Jamaat elements and Bangladeshi infiltrators in the electoral rolls in this state may be behind it. I demand that the NIA intervene in this incident,”
said Adhikari.

Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty, however, claimed that if a proper investigation was conducted, it would reveal the BJP’s involvement in creating panic among judicial officers.

“Recently, two BJP workers were caught by local people for planting bombs on the railway tracks at the Nimtita railway station in Murshidabad. If a thorough investigation is conducted, the BJP’s involvement may also be found here,” said Chakraborty.