Hotels in Lucknow, Kolkata, Tirupati, Rajkot receive bomb threats, all hoax

Dhaka: About two dozen hotels across Kolkata, Tirupati and Rajkot as well as 10 hotels in Lucknow of India received bomb threats via e-mail on October 26 and October 27 respectively.

After receiving the threats, managements of the respective hotels informed the police, leading to swift investigations by local authorities. However, eventually the bomb threats turned out to be a hoax, reports said citing the police officers.

The hotels in Lucknow which received bomb threats on October 27 are premium properties—Marriott, Saraca, Piccadily, Comfort Vista, Fortune, Lemon Tree, Clark Awadh, Casa, Dayal Gateway and Silvette. The emails threatened that the explosion would take place if the ransom demand of USD 55,000 (INR 4,624,288) was not met.

"Bombs are hidden in black bags on the grounds of your hotel. I want USD 55,000, or I will detonate the explosives and blood will spread everywhere. Any attempt at defusing the bombs will detonate them," read the bomb threat email.

The bomb threats are deepening fears that the festival season menace so far aimed at flights and airports is spreading to other sectors now.

Earlier, on October 26, at least 10 major hotels received bomb threat emails in Kolkata. The usual anti-bomb drills were executed and nothing was found.

“I have planted bombs on the grounds of your hotel. The bombs are hidden in black bags. They will detonate soon. You have little time to live. Evacuate,” said an email, as per reports.

In Tirupati, three hotels received similar bomb threats on October 26. All turned out to be hoaxes.

In September, the Taj West End Hotel in Bengaluru also received a bomb threat email. It led to the authorities bringing in sniffer dogs and bomb squad for inspection.

However, after carrying out the probe, a senior police officer said that the bomb threat was a hoax, according to reports.