‘I want $55,000, or…’: 10 Lucknow hotels receive bomb threats via email after Gujarat and Tirupati

At least 10 major hotels in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, received bomb threats via e-mail on Sunday. The email reportedly threatened that explosions would take place if a ransom demand of $55,000 ( ₹4,624,288) is not met. Dog Squad and Bomb Disposal Squad conducted searches following the threat.

"Bombs are hidden in black bags on the grounds of your hotel. I want $55,000, or I will detonate the explosives and blood will spill everywhere. Any attempt at defusing the bombs will detonate them," read the threat email, a copy of which is with PTI.

Brajesh Kumar, a manager of one of the hotels, said, "We received the threat mail in the morning. As a precaution we reported the matter to the local police station and a team has come to look into the matter."

"We already have systems to scan all the guests and their luggage. Even then, as a precaution we are helping the police to scan the hotel," he said.

Bomb threats in Tirupati, Gujarat

Earlier this week, 10 hotels in Gujarat's Rajkot and half a dozen hotels in Tirupati town received hoax bomb threats.

About half a dozen hotels in Tirupati town received hoax bomb email threats in the past three days, police said on Sunday. As soon as the police received such complaints, the specific hotel was evacuated and searches conducted by bomb disposal squads.

"We reacted swiftly when we received complaints and our teams conducted thorough checks. But they (fake email threats) turned out to be fake. We are booking cases and investigations into these are going on," L Subbarayudu, Superintendent of Police Tirupati told PTI on Sunday.

A senior police official of the district said they are investigating the cases with the help of the cyber crimes wing.

On Saturday, at least 10 hotels in Gujarat's Rajkot received bomb threat emails, which were later determined to be a hoax. The unsettling messages, sent around 12:45 pm, prompted an immediate response from local authorities, including thorough searches conducted by the bomb disposal squad (BDS).

These bomb threats to major hotels come at a time when authorities have been grappling with a number of hoax bomb threats targeting Indian airlines during the last fortnight. In 14 days, more than 350 flights operated by Indian carriers have received hoax bomb threats, most of them through social media.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)