District courts in Haryana and Punjab vacated due to bomb threats; searches underway

A team of rescue officials including the riot control team, crime branch, anti-terrorist squad, district crime cell, and police forensic team immediately reached the spot to conduct a thorough search operation.

Chandigarh:The authorities at the Haryana Police Control room received an alert warning them of the presence of 'explosives' at the local district courts and bus stops in the city on Tuesday. As informed by SSP Manisha Chaudhary, the search team has so far recovered a tiffin box and a water bottle that 'do not seem suspicious prima facie', even as the search operations continue. Several courts including the District Courts Complex in Chandigarh’s Sector 43 was vacated after the authorities here were informed about the threat.

"So far we have found a tiffin box and a water bottle. BDS teams from both Punjab and Haryana have checked it and nothing seems suspicious prima facie. But we want to be doubly sure, so we have sent a requisition to the Chandi Mandir BDS team which is on its way," SSP Chaudhary told a group of reporters outside the Chandigarh District Court on Tuesday.

"We have been on checking rounds at public places in the purview of the Republic team anyway. As soon as we received the call, we deployed teams including the local police, operation cells team, and Bomb Disposal Squads(BDS) at all the district courts and local bus stops. The teams are thoroughly sweeping the entire campus," Chaudhary added.

She further added that the call was received at the Haryana Police control room at around 10 in the morning, after which the Chandigarh and other district courts in the state were alerted about the same. "We will be able to confirm the nature of the found object only after the other BDS teams conclude their scrutiny," she said.

Meanwhile, the authorities at the Panchkula District Court have received a letter threatening to blow up the court premises, triggering an atmosphere of terror there too. The letter had warned that a bomb placed in a car around the Pannchkula 43 court premises will blast at around 1 pm on January 24. SSP Manisha has however said she is not aware of any such letter.

As soon as the authorities were alerted about the threat, all officials at work in the court premises including the senior judges, advocates, clerks, and other visitors were asked to empty all court chambers. A team of rescue officials including the riot control team, crime branch, anti-terrorist squad, district crime cell, and police forensic team immediately reached the spot to conduct a thorough search operation.

The police authorities have also brought in a dog squad to identify the presence of the 'explosives', as the search operation continues. The areas around these corts have now been cordoned off with the search operation still underway.