The Chandigarh Police have cracked two hoax bomb threat cases that had triggered panic in Chandigarh schools and the Punjab Civil Secretariat earlier this year, with the arrest of Saurav Biswas (30), a Bangladeshi national who had illegally crossed into India and was settled in West Bengal.
Biswas, described by police as a tech-savvy freelance web designer and animator, was arrested on June 2 after a production warrant was obtained from Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where he was already in custody of the Cyber Crime police station for a similar offence. He has since been remanded to police custody by the Sector 17 and Sector 3 police stations for further questioning.
According to police, on January 28, threat emails were sent to Tender Heart School, and Government Model Senior Secondary Schools in Sectors 16, 35 and 19, prompting an FIR under Sections 113(3), 62 and 351(4) of the BNS and Section 66(F) of the IT Act at the Sector 17 police station. A day later, on January 29, a similar email targeted the Punjab Civil Secretariat, leading to another FIR under Section 351(4) BNS and Section 66(F) IT Act at the Sector 3 police station.
Technical analysis of the emails in both cases led investigators to Biswas. Police said he ran an online business buying and selling Gmail accounts through Facebook pages, having procured around 300 such accounts, of which 219 were sold to an individual based in Bangladesh. Investigators are now probing whether these accounts were used to send the hoax threats and are working to establish further links in the chain.
Police said Biswas is no stranger to such cases — FIRs against him are also registered at PS Civil Lines, Delhi, PS Special Cell, Delhi, and PS Cyber Dwarka for similar offences.
Speaking to The Tribune, Chandigarh DGP Dr Sagar Preet Hooda said the Chandigarh Police followed a zero-tolerance approach towards such elements. “Anyone attempting to take the law into their own hands or spread panic through such cowardly acts will be brought to book and given the strictest possible punishment. Chandigarh has no place for criminals, gangsters or law violators, and this arrest sends a clear message that our cyber and investigation teams will track down such offenders, no matter where they are hiding,” he said.
The arrest comes against the backdrop of a series of hoax bomb threats that have rattled schools across Chandigarh and Delhi over the past year, several of which arrived via email on the eve of board examinations, forcing mass evacuations, police searches with bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs, and disruption of classes and exams. Such threats have repeatedly triggered fear psychosis among students, parents and teachers, with many schools having to suspend examinations midway and reschedule them, even as investigations in most cases traced the senders to fake or compromised email IDs routed through servers outside India — underscoring the cross-border digital trail now confirmed in the present case as well.
Further investigation is under way to ascertain the accused’s complete network and motive.
