Ahmedabad: A preliminary probe into two recent cases of hoax bomb threats to locations in Ahmedabad, including the Narendra Modi Stadium, has indicated that the email accounts used by the senders were operated from Bangladesh and Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday. The probe also brought to light a possible network facilitating the sale of hacked email accounts, according to a release issued by the Cyber Crime Branch.

Source: PTI via Jammu News Portal (Cyber Crime Branch release)

The first case was registered on October 7, when emails threatening bomb blasts were sent from two email IDs to 16 locations, including 10 schools, the Gujarat High Court, other courts in Ahmedabad and the Narendra Modi Stadium. The messages carried references to Khalistan and threatened explosions at singer Diljit Dosanjh's shows scheduled for November 1 in Delhi and November 21 at the Modi Stadium, the release said. Preliminary findings indicated the accounts were operated from Bangladesh and Rawalpindi in Pakistan, and that old email accounts had allegedly been procured and used to send the messages.

The second case was registered on October 27, after a threatening email was sent from another account targeting 19 locations, including 14 schools, government offices, courts and the Modi Stadium. The message again referred to Khalistan and warned people against attending Dosanjh's November 21 show. Examination of the email headers and information obtained from Gmail indicated that this account had been operated from Rangpur in Bangladesh and Lahore in Pakistan, officials said.

On Tuesday, several Ahmedabad schools that received the threats were evacuated and searched by police, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and dog-squad teams, and nothing suspicious was found, officials said, declaring the threats a hoax.

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An earlier investigation into similar threats had found that an accused arrested from West Bengal by Gujarat police had allegedly sold hacked Gmail accounts to a person in Bangladesh, who sold them to someone in Pakistan in exchange for cryptocurrency, the release said. The probe had found that the Pakistan-based individuals were sending threatening emails ahead of festivals and other important events to create fear.

The Cyber Crime Branch is probing the two cases in coordination with central agencies, the release said.