Nagpur: Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) headquarters and the Mayor’s office were threatened with a bomb explosion on Thursday, triggering an extensive anti-sabotage operation after a suspicious email warned of a blast at 3.11 pm. However, conflicting claims by civic officials and police over the timing of the alert have raised questions about coordination between the two agencies.
The threat email was received by NMC at 1.27 pm, specifically warning of an explosion at the civic headquarters and the Mayor’s office later that afternoon. While senior NMC officials claimed the police were informed immediately, senior police officers maintained that the intimation reached them nearly 24 hours after the email was received.
By the time police were alerted, the purported explosion time mentioned in the email had already passed, according to an officer.
Following the police intimation, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS), anti-sabotage teams and sniffer dogs were mobilised to conduct an exhaustive search of the NMC premises. No explosive material was detected during the operation, an officer confirmed.
Threat email carries provocative slogans
The email carried alarming subject lines, including “BOMB Blast @ Nagpur Municipal Corporation 3:11PM” and “Mumbai BoleGa Kh* Zindabad”. It reportedly followed the pattern of earlier threatening messages received by government establishments and public institutions.
Security agencies initiated standard anti-sabotage protocols, treating the threat seriously despite similarities with previous hoax emails.
Maharashtra institutions under recurring threat
Nagpur Municipal Corporation had received a similar bomb threat email in mid-2026. In recent months, courts, schools and government offices across Maharashtra have also been targeted through threatening electronic messages, creating repeated security scares.
The latest email reportedly threatened explosions at multiple locations in Maharashtra, including a car parked outside a megastar’s bungalow and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport. It also mentioned attacks on November 27 at Mahalaxmi Stadium and against a legendary actor on December 31.
The message reportedly referred to the 1984 violence and claimed to originate from the “KHALISTAN National ARMY”.
Fadnavis flags foreign origins of masked threats
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently expressed concern over the growing menace of bomb threat emails, stating that such messages are generally routed through masked IP addresses and frequently originate from foreign locations, making it difficult for Indian law enforcement agencies to trace their senders.
Speaking at a press conference in Nagpur last week, Fadnavis said several countries were working towards a policy framework to tackle such threatening emails.
The repeated targeting of public institutions has intensified concerns over cyber-enabled security threats, while the reported delay in communicating Thursday’s threat to police has added another troubling dimension to the incident.
