Bengaluru man claims former wife was harassed, issues Metro bomb threat

Bengaluru: A man allegedly sent a bomb threat email claiming that his divorced wife, a staffer in Metro in Bengaluru, was being harassed, police said on Tuesday.  

The threat email warning of a blast at a metro station has triggered panic within the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

The message was sent by an unidentified person to the official BMRCL email address around 11.30 p.m. on November 14.

Following the development, BMRCL has lodged a complaint with the Wilson Garden police. Based on the complaint, the police have registered an FIR and initiated further investigation.

According to police, the sender alleged that his divorced wife, who works as a metro staffer, was being subjected to mental harassment after her duty hours. He threatened that if such harassment continued, he would have to blast one of the metro stations.

The email also stated that he would act like a terrorist and claimed that the threat was specifically directed against Kannadigas.

Following the receipt and verification of the email, a BMRCL official filed a complaint at the Wilson Garden police station.

The police have lodged an FIR under relevant BNS sections, related to criminal intimidation.

Earlier, on August 7, the discovery of a suspicious object near Lalbagh metro station by a staffer caused a scare in the city amid the police's efforts to provide adequate security ahead of Republic Day. Police later confirmed it to have been a hoax bomb threat.

Commuters who spotted the unattended bag quickly informed the metro security personnel. Initial checks with a metal detector raised concerns, prompting authorities to escalate the matter.

The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, along with the local police and a fire unit, swiftly arrived and sealed off the area as a precaution.

After a thorough inspection, officials declared the situation a false alarm - the bag contained only tools.

Shortly afterwards, Manjunath Jadhav, a technician working in HAL's Aircraft Wing, arrived at the scene and informed the authorities that the bag was his.

Jadhav had just returned from a training programme in Haryana the same day and was commuting home with multiple bags. In the process, he accidentally left the toolbox behind, the police said.