'LTTE Sympathiser' Issues Bomb Threats To Bihar, Chhattisgarh Courts
Authorities conducted precautionary measures while thousands of people at the courts across states have been evacuated following the bomb threats.
Published : January 8, 2026 at 3:45 PM IST
Patna/Cuttack/Shimla/Raipur: Anonymous bomb threats across courts in Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha on Thursday halted judicial work prompting authorities to initiate probes and ensure precautionary measures.
In Bihar, the district courts in Patna, Araria, Gaya and Kishanganj, and Patna City were evacuated following a bomb threat by a person claiming to be a member of the banned terror organisation Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Judicial work was halted at the courts as the police conducted search operations in their premises.
E-mail sent by one Arun Kumar to these courts got delivered at at 10:37 am. It said three RDX improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in the court premises would go off later in the day. As the news of the email trickled out, it caused a flutter in the court premises. Judges, advocates, litigants and judicial staff vacated the premises amid police deployment. The bomb detection and defusal squads were pressed into services at the said court premises.
An urgent communique from Patna district court registrar to the district bar association asked all the members to “evacuate the campus at once” in light of the threat email.
"We immediately swung into action on receiving the information about the bomb threat. The entire district court campus was evacuated and we searched for explosive devices but could not find any. Our men are still present there,” Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kartikeya Sharma told ETV Bharat.
"We are trying to trace the email and its sender. It mentions a few things about Tamil Nadu and is written mostly in Hindi with a sprinkling of English,” the SSP added.
A police source said that the threat mail also asked to stop sending the people of Bihar as labourers to Tamil Nadu or be ready to face dire consequences.
"The increasing number of migrant workers coming from Bihar is affecting the local population structure of Tamil Nadu. Four RDX IEDs have been judiciously planted in the room of the judge and the court premises. This operation has been conducted with assistance from Pakistan’s secret service ISI," the threat mail said.
"Bihar must stop sending labourers to Chennai. Today’s RDX blasts will be a statement from all Tamils," the threat mails read, which bore the salutation of "honourable judge and staff".
The otherwise bustling Patna civil court campus wore a deserted look after the visitors and judicial staff rushed out to safety.
"At first a message was circulated on our Whatsapp groups asking to direct the clients and other outside people to vacate the premises. Then an announcement on loudspeakers was also made for the same. Soon after we were also asked to evacuate," Patna district court advocate Mankesh Dayal told ETV Bharat.
The panic-struck lawyers and their clients flocked out through all three gates of the civil court premises. The presence of the police personnel and sniffer dogs added to their worry as they poured out on the roads along the court premises.
"During the announcement, the lawyers were asked to take their important documents with them. It added to the confusion as we all started gathering papers related to the cases we were handling. The police had intensively started looking for explosives by then,” Patna district court advocate Ravi Bhushan said.
The Patna district court had received bomb threats at least thrice in the past also, including two that came last year.
Similar scenes unfolded at Gaya and Kishanganj district courts as the court administration and the police asked everybody present there to evacuate the premises. The email sent to the Gaya district court claimed that bombs would explode at 2:30pm.
Around 5,000 people were present at the Gaya court premises when the email came and they all were evacuated along with the lawyers. The judges also vacated the premises as the police swept the entire campus for explosives.
Chhattisgarh
District courts in Chhattisgarh received Bihar-like threat emails and purportedly claiming to be from Tamil Nadu, prompting heightened security measures and thorough checks at courthouses in Durg, Raipur, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, and Dhamtari.
The emails, received around 10 am, threatened to blow up court premises later on Thursday(Jan. 8).
At Durg District Court, the CRPF and police personnel ramped up their vigil. Every corner was pored over the by security forces, with visitors undergoing rigorous screening.
Dog squads and bomb disposal teams checked vehicles and the premises of Dhamtari and Rajnandgaon courts as well.
Ravi Shankar Singh, Secretary of Durg District Bar Association, predicted the bomb threats could have been the result of a disgruntled litigant. "Police acted swiftly, deploying forces and conducting probes, but no explosives were found, it appears to be a hoax," he noted.
While lawyers faced minimal disruption, litigants endured delays from mandatory checks. Singh also advocated monthly drills to deter unauthorized entries and ensure transparency.
No arrests have been reported yet, with investigations ongoing into the origin of emails.
Odisha
Anonymous e-mails threatening to bomb court premises were received by several courts in Odisha, including the High Court. The State police have taken cognisance of the matter and initiated a thorough investigation after ensuring precautionary measures at vulnerable locations, said State DGP Yogesh Bahadur Khurania.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who is also holds the Home portfolio, has taken note of the threat and directed the State DGP to immediately initiate an investigation and take stringent action against the culprit(s). Three senior police officers have been directed to move to three different districts of the State to take stock of the matter.
As a precautionary measure, police checks and enhanced security arrangements have been put in place at key installations across the State. The situation is under our close monitoring, Khurania told media persons, while also appealing to the public not to panic and to cooperate with the police in maintaining security and assisting the investigation.
The advocates who were evacuated from the court premises expressed shock over the threat. Some of them said they couldn't recall such a bomb threat being issued to an Odisha court from their memory. Legal services across the State remained paralysed for hours. The Courts in Sambalpur, Bargarh, and Cuttack were in receipt of threat emails.
Himachal Pradesh
The Himachal Pradesh High Court received a bomb threat via email on Thursday morning, prompting a swift police response with bomb disposal squads combing the premises, though courts continued functioning normally.
The threat, sent via an email, warned of blowing up the court building with RDX.
Registrar General Bhupesh Sharma ordered a full search, joined by district police, CID officers, and staff. No suspicious objects have surfaced so far, with sanitization ongoing.
Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Gandhi said a bomb disposal squad, dog squad, and local teams thoroughly checked the site after the alert. "We're monitoring all suspects and tracing the sender," he added.
Benches operated without evacuation, but security agencies stayed on high alert.
This marks the fourth such hoax for the court, previous threats came on June 17, 2024, April 2025, and June 9, 2025, all were determined as hoax after the police sweeped the campus. Similar emails have twice targeted the Chief Secretary's Office and Deputy Commissioners' offices in several districts.
Investigations continue amid a pattern of threats.
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