A bomb threat emailed to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Thursday led to the evacuation of its Bengaluru facility and a massive security operation, police said, adding that initial searches found no evidence of explosives and investigators believe it was a hoax.
The threat, which was sent to the ISRO campus on New BEL Road, claimed that explosive materials had been planted inside the building. Authorities immediately evacuated the facility while police, bomb disposal personnel and police dog teams began searching offices, laboratories and other buildings.
The operation involved the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), local police and sniffer dog units, who scanned the campus following standard security protocols before declaring the building safe.
Officials said the initial search did not reveal any suspicious objects or explosive materials, although searches were continuing as a precaution.
“We received an alert from ISRO authorities about an email containing a bomb threat. We immediately searched the building using BDDS and sniffer dog squad, but did not find any evidence,” said Babasab Nimmagoda, Deputy Commissioner of Police, North Bengaluru Division.
“It is a hoax call. Our cyber experts have launched an investigation to trace the source of the email. We have registered a case at Sanjaynagar police station and launched an investigation,” he added.
Investigators are examining the digital trail left by the message, including technical data that could help identify its sender.
Police are also looking into whether the threat is linked to a recent series of anonymous emails targeting prominent institutions across Karnataka. Similar letters were sent in recent days to the Karnataka High Court, district courts and several educational institutions in Bengaluru, triggering precautionary evacuations and widespread security checks.
Authorities said they had not ruled out the possibility that the same individual or group was responsible for several phishing emails directed at government offices and public institutions in recent weeks. The investigation is ongoing.
