Six Raj collectorates evacuated after hoax bomb threat calls

Jaipur: At least six district collectorate offices across Rajasthan were evacuated on Tuesday following a series of bomb threat emails, causing widespread disruption to govt functioning. The affected districts included Dausa, Rajsamand, Pali, Sikar, Bhilwara and Tonk.

The anonymous emails, received by district collectors, contained specific threats about imminent explosions, with some mentioning RDX and precise detonation times. The threats prompted immediate emergency responses, with police, bomb detection squads, sniffer dogs and civil defence teams conducting extensive searches of the govt buildings. However, no explosive devices were found at any location.

In Sikar, the threat forced a last-minute change to Chief Secretary Sudhansh Pant's scheduled visit, with a planned meeting at the collectorate being relocated to an alternate venue.

Bhilwara district collector Jasmeet Singh Sandhu reported receiving an email warning of an explosion at 3:30pm Tuesday, leading to the evacuation of both the collectorate and SP office complex. Additional bomb disposal units were deployed from Kota to assist in the search operations. This incident follows a pattern of similar hoax threats across the state. Last week, Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Stadium received four bomb threats within a week, while four mini secretariats in Baran, Pratapgarh, Nagaur and Alwar were targeted on May 14. These threats had also sparked immediate evacuations and heightened security checks but were later confirmed to be hoaxes.

"An investigation is currently underway," said a senior police official.