The Punjab and Haryana Civil Secretariat was evacuated on Thursday morning after a threat to blow up the secretariat with a bomb, today morning.
According to officials, the threat was received by E-mails sent to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) at the Punjab Civil Secretariat, Chandigarh and to the Director, Local Government, at Municipal Bhawan, where the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann routinely attends official functions in the auditorium.
The Chandigarh Police said, “The sender threatened Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and the sender, claiming to be a Khalistani supporter, also warned the Punjab government against police encounters”.
After receiving the threat E-mails, police, fire brigade personnel, and bomb disposal squads rushed to both locations. Security agencies cordoned off the premises and evacuated employees and visitors as a precautionary measure. A thorough checking was conducted by the security agencies.
The Chandigarh Police officers said, “The threats are being taken seriously and the cyber cell has launched an investigation to trace the origin of the E-mails and identify the sender.”
This is not the first incident in the region as threatening E-mails have been sent to blow up District Courts and schools in Punjab , recently.
( With Inputs from agencies)
