A Kolkata man was arrested for allegedly emailing a threat of a suicide bomb attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, claiming links to Al Qaeda.
Key Points
- A man was arrested in Kolkata for allegedly threatening a suicide bomb attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
- The accused, Hasnain Iqbal, allegedly sent an email claiming the attack would be carried out with the help of Al Qaeda.
- The email was sent using a woman's identity, and police suspect the intention was to harass or implicate her.
- The accused allegedly sent emails to government institutions, including the Election Commission.
- The accused possessed advanced IT knowledge and was skilled in creating IP addresses.
A man was arrested from Kolkata's Garden Reach area for allegedly sending an email to the police threatening a suicide bomb attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari "with the help of terror outfit Al Qaeda", a senior officer said on Saturday.
The man, identified as 27-year-old Hasnain Iqbal, was arrested on Friday night following a joint probe by the cyber cell and the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police.
Details of the Threat and Investigation
Additional CP-IV of Kolkata Police, V Solomon Nesakumar, said the threatening email was received by Bhowanipore police station around 10.15 am on May 14.
The email sender claimed that a suicide attack would be carried out on the CM with the help of Al Qaeda.
"The email was sent using the identity of a woman. After receiving a complaint, an investigation was immediately initiated by the cyber wing and the STF," Nesakumar told reporters.
Accused Admits to Sending Threatening Email
During the probe, investigators traced the email trail to Hasnain Iqbal, a resident of Golam Abbas Lane in Garden Reach.
Police said the accused later admitted to sending the email during questioning.
"Preliminary investigation suggests that the woman in whose name the email was sent was known to the accused. We suspect that the intention was to harass or implicate her and her family," Nesakumar said.
Further Investigation and Previous Offences
Investigators also found that the accused had earlier allegedly sent emails to several government institutions, including the Election Commission, another police officer said.
Iqbal possessed advanced knowledge of information technology and was skilled in creating IP addresses and related technical tools, which he allegedly used while sending such emails, he said, adding that further investigation is underway.
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