Mental health institute in Chandigarh receives bomb threat over email; turns out to be hoax

Chandigarh: A mental health institute here received a bomb threat over email on Wednesday, but later it turned out to be a hoax, police said.

After the email was received in the morning, patients and employees were moved to safety and a search operation was initiated, police said.

An official of the institute claimed the same email was sent to a number of hospitals in Delhi and south India.

A Chandigarh police official said they cordoned off the area and thoroughly searched the premises of the mental health institute but nothing was found.

"We did not find anything," Deputy Superintendent of Chandigarh Police (South) Dalvir Singh said.

Besides police personnel, the bomb disposal squad, dog squad and fire department officials were also deputed at the site after police were informed about the email.

Dr Aprajita, the deputy medical superintendent of the Mental Health Institute at Sector 32, Chandigarh, told reporters earlier in the day that the hospital received the bomb threat over email in the morning.

There were about 100 people, including patients, doctors and other employees at the hospital at that time, she said.

"We received an email. In addition to our centre, the email was sent to many psychiatry hospitals in the country. It stated that there is a bomb in the hospital," the doctor said.

Replying to a question, Dr Aparajita said, "We forwarded the email to the police. The sender's name... did not appear to be known. It was sent from a personal email id." Asked which other hospitals were mentioned in the email, she said, "It had names of some hospitals in Delhi, some in south India and CIP (Central Institute of Psychiatry), Ranchi." "In the email, it was written that there is a bomb in the hospital and everyone will die," the deputy medical superintendent said.