Thiruvananthapuram, 20 Oct (H.S.): A Tamil Nadu native working as a software engineer in the United States has been arrested in connection with a series of hoax bomb threats that triggered security checks across Kerala, including at the State Secretariat, Cliff House, schools and hospitals.

The accused, identified as Sharath Subrahmanyan, faces 102 cases in Kerala alone, according to police. Investigators said he repeatedly sent threatening emails from the United States, prompting searches at government establishments and public institutions.

Tamil Nadu's Anti-Terrorism Squad initially took him into custody in a separate case involving the circulation of a digitally manipulated photograph of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's wife. Police said Sharath had arrived in Chennai around six weeks earlier.

During questioning, investigators allegedly found that the image had been created using ChatGPT. Further interrogation subsequently revealed his suspected involvement in the bomb threat emails sent to establishments across Kerala, police said.

Following these findings, Thiruvananthapuram City Police took custody of Sharath for questioning in connection with the cases registered in the state.

The threats allegedly targeted several sensitive locations, including Cliff House, the Chief Minister's official residence. Schools and hospitals were also among the institutions that received the messages, repeatedly mobilising police and security personnel.

According to police, Sharath told investigators that he had been experiencing emotional distress after his wife left him. He allegedly claimed that he began troubling others through threatening messages as a way of dealing with his distress.

That explanation forms part of the account attributed to him during interrogation; it does not establish a medical diagnosis.

The arrest brings the investigations in Kerala and Tamil Nadu into focus, with the alleged email threats emerging during questioning in the manipulated photograph case. Police have linked him to the Kerala cases, while the allegations remain subject to further investigation and judicial scrutiny.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman