CCB takes over investigation into hoax email bomb threats; seeks inputs from intelligence units

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has taken over the investigation into the hoax email bomb threats sent to 43 schools in the city last week. The CCB officials have also held discussions with intelligence units to gain a fresh perspective on the case.

On July 18, panic spread across 41 schools in the city, following bomb threats that prompted the schools to send students home just hours after classes had begun. The threats were later turned out to be a hoax. Four days later, two more schools in eastern and central Bengaluru received similar email threats.

Although individual complaints had already been registered, the CCB has now taken over the investigation, including the two cases filed subsequently.

A senior officer overseeing the investigation told The Hindu that they are determined to get to the root of the matter, and hence they discussed several interconnected issues with other divisions of the police department and intelligence units.

According to a source, investigators held a meeting on Wednesday with the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Internal Security Division (ISD), and the Anti-Terrorism Squad/Unit (ATS).

“The agenda of the meeting was to gather diverse perspectives on the case and brainstorm potential new strategies to approach the investigation,” the officer told The Hindu.

The participating departments typically handle classified cases and possess historical data, which could offer leads and assist the investigation, another source said.

The senior officer said that they received valuable inputs from these departments, but declined to share further details, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. But the officer revealed that a request had been sent to the email service provider used by the suspect to issue the hoax bomb threats, and a response is awaited. The suspect also employed a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to mask their identity, the officer noted.

Police are optimistic about receiving useful information from the service provider, as their preliminary assessment indicated a favourable stance.

However, a senior officer experienced in handling cybercrime cases warned that relying solely on a response from the email service provider could stall the investigation. This caution is based on past cases where similar requests for information did not produce any useful outcomes.

According to data reviewed by The Hindu, miscreants sent 53 hoax bomb threat emails to various institutions and establishments in 2023, 64 in 2024, and 20 in 2025, excluding the recent threats. Of these, fewer than 10 cases from 2023 have been solved, while 11 from 2024 have been resolved.

All the cases that were successfully solved were relatively simple, as the threat emails were not sent using a VPN, the officer explained.

Moreover, international avenues such as Interpol and the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) have proved ineffective for investigators handling hoax email threat cases. By the end of 2024, the Karnataka’s Criminal Investigation Department had sent nearly 30 MLAT requests, but only seven received responses, and none of those contained actionable details, according to a CID source.