Mumbai was placed on high alert on Friday after an email received by the Bombay High Court threatened bomb attacks at multiple high-profile locations, including the residence of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, the court itself, the Bombay Stock Exchange and Mahalaxmi Racecourse, police said.
The message threatened explosions at Bachchan’s Juhu bungalow, Jalsa, the Bombay High Court, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), and the Worli/Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Mumbai Police immediately launched an investigation to trace the sender and verify the threat. Security agencies were alerted, and teams including the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad went to the sites.
Investigators found nothing suspicious during the searches, no explosives or suspicious objects.
Some officials described the email as a hoax, although the inquiry into its provenance was not over. Court and other sites remained open under enhanced security.
This is the second threat in a few weeks to refer to Bachchan’s house. On 23rd October, an email was sent to Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde and Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi warning of attacks on the mayor’s office at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters, a school, Bachchan’s Jalsa (31st October to 2nd November), and a concert by singer Diljit Dosanjh at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse on 27th November.
The email contained pro-Khalistan content and claimed responsibility by a group calling itself the Khalistan National Army. Searches at the time found nothing suspicious.
Following the October threat, the 84-year-old Bachchan abandoned his long-established Sunday ritual of greeting fans who gathered outside Jalsa. He now appears on a raised platform behind a transparent bulletproof screen with his son Abhishek Bachchan and security guards. The All India Cine Workers Association has since written to PM Narendra Modi asking for greater protection for film personalities.
The email from Friday came as part of a string of bomb threats received in recent days directed at courts, civic offices, and public places across Maharashtra. Earlier in the week, several district and sessions courts in the state received similar emails warning of blasts, which triggered searches that produced nothing.
Authorities have taken the messages seriously until they can prove otherwise and have deployed dog squads and bomb disposal units as part of the investigation, looking to track down the senders via digital footprints.
Authorities have not released the full text of Friday’s email or any specific timeline or alleged motive beyond the locations mentioned. Authorities are still seeking the message’s origin IP address and assessing whether it is connected to the earlier threats. No arrests have been made in relation to the latest email.
The repeated mention of Bachchan’s residence and the racecourse venue has attracted significant attention. It comes less than a month after the last warning and before Dosanjh’s concert. Security has been enhanced at the actor’s residence and other sites identified as targets.
The Mumbai Police have said they are continuing to monitor the situation and have advised heightened vigilance at the locations mentioned. Further details of the investigation are expected as the forensic analysis of the email proceeds.