Bengaluru museum gets hoax bomb threat, shuts for three hours

On Friday evening, authorities were alerted to a potential bomb threat at the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum in Bengaluru. The email, which also mentioned potential dangers at the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, resulted in the immediate closure of the museum. The bomb scare, later revealed to be false, closed the institutions for three hours.

The threatening emails reportedly came from an entity identifying itself as 'Morgue999lol' from the group ‘Terrorizers 111’. Despite an intensive search by a bomb squad and Bengaluru police, no suspicious items were found at any of the locations. Authorities are currently investigating the source and legitimacy of the threats, with FIRs filed at Cubbon Park, High Grounds and Vidhana Soudha police stations.

This incident follows a similar occurrence in December, when over 50 schools in Bengaluru were evacuated due to email bomb threats. The disruption caused widespread concern amongst students, parents and teachers.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah emphasized the importance of taking these threats seriously and instructed police to thoroughly investigate the emails and their origin. He also called for increased security at schools and temples for prevention.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara mentioned that the email came from the address kharijites@beeble.com, and claimed that 15 schools harboured bombs. He assured that any involvement from terrorist organizations will be seriously handled and necessary actions taken. However, no specific culprit behind the threats can be named at this time. The contents of the email, which suggested conversions, is being verified.