Kolkata, 06 March (H.S.): A bomb threat targeting Kolkata’s iconic tourist destination, the Victoria Memorial, triggered panic in the area on Friday after the monument’s authorities received a threatening email.

Following the email, the Victoria Memorial Authority lodged a complaint with Hastings Police Station. Police swung into action immediately and a bomb squad was dispatched from Lalbazar to the site. The entire complex was evacuated as a precautionary measure and a search operation was launched. However, no suspicious object has been recovered so far.

The development comes amid a series of similar threat emails sent to various locations in Kolkata and several districts of West Bengal in recent days. Last week, bomb threats sent via email caused panic at the City Civil Court in Kolkata and the Passport Office near the Ruby area. The investigation into those emails was handed over to the Special Task Force (STF) of the Kolkata Police, but no arrests have been made so far. Authorities are yet to determine the origin of the emails.

Over the past few days, passport offices located within post office premises have reportedly been frequent targets of such threatening messages. Most of the emails claim that bombs have been planted in office premises and warn of RDX explosions that would blow up the entire area. Investigations so far, however, have found all the threats to be hoaxes. Despite this, security agencies are treating each alert with seriousness, evacuating premises and conducting thorough searches in accordance with standard safety protocols.

The Victoria Memorial is among Kolkata’s most popular tourist attractions, drawing large crowds of visitors every day, including many foreign tourists. The bomb threat concerning the historic site has therefore sparked concern across the city.

Meanwhile, a similar pattern of bomb threat emails was recently reported in Gujarat. In connection with those incidents, Gujarat Police arrested Sourav Biswas, a resident of Gopalnagar in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey