Fresh wave of hoax bomb threats targets Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s office, residence and Kochi airport

Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram, the official residence of the Chief Minister of Kerala. (file pic)
| Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA

Kerala Police’s anti-sabotage squads conducted almost simultaneous sweeps of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office and his official residence at Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram after a fresh wave of bomb threats targeted sensitive facilities, including the Nedumbassery airport in Kochi, for the third consecutive day on Monday (April 28, 2025). 

According to police officials, the latest in the string of identical bomb threats also targeted the office of the Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, Kerala, on Monday.

They said the sender identified himself as Abdul Anulappados, possibly a false identity. 

The sender claimed that an anonymous saboteur had planted a “sulfur and RDX-based improvised explosive device (IED)“ at Cliff House, the official residence of the Chief Minister of Kerala.

The threat-maker said the IED would “explode at 14.30 hours” on Monday. The individual demanded the immediate evacuation of Mr. Vijayan from the residence. 

The sender claimed that a Coimbatore-based “crystal-meth cartel” wanted to “assassinate” Mr. Vijayan to “derail his attempt to staunch the inflow of synthetic drugs from Tamil Nadu into Kerala.”

According to police officials, the sender blamed Jaffer Sadique, a DMK activist arrested on drug charges by the Tamil Nadu Police in Chennai in July 2024, for “planting the bomb”.

The sender claimed that a “rogue IPS” officer in Tamil Nadu aided the drug cartel and used an encrypted software, Galileo, to make airline, courier, hotel, travel and car rental reservations for international drug smuggling.

A top official told The Hindu that the threat-maker spoofed his/her identity by using dynamic VPN addresses and IP-based internet telephony networks that were vulnerable to hacking and hostile takeover.

He said the police suspect the scaremonger to be an individual rather than a group of persons working for non-State actors, including terrorist organisations, as suspected initially.

The Kerala and Tamil Nadu police have launched a joint investigation. “The threat-maker had targeted key facilities in Tamil Nadu last month before pivoting to Kerala”, he added. The State police also worked with Central agencies to probe the threat nationally. 

Another investigator said the threat-maker appeared to be exploiting the tense national atmosphere prevalent in the country following the Pahalgam terror attack to sow panic.

He said the e-mail threats, prima facie, followed a pattern linked to a similar string of bomb scares targeting schools in New Delhi last year. “It could be a typical copycat crime. There also seemed to be a political motive linked to Tamil Nadu”, he added. 

Investigators said the threats so far were not credible and were mere hoaxes.

However, they said the aim could be to cause disruption, stretch law enforcement resources thin, fatigue quick reaction forces and emergency responders or study the response of the State’s security apparatus, including reaction time and methods.

Investigators said false alarms might also be designed to overwhelm security systems so something credibly lethal could slip through. Bomb scares also caused tremendous public anxiety. 

A fake bomb threat at the Thiruvananthapuram airport and the Central Railway Station caused minor disruption on Sunday. On Saturday, several top hotels, courts and district collectorates reported bomb threats, which later proved to be a hoax. Nevertheless, disruption and some financial losses resulted. 

Published – April 28, 2025 02:01 pm IST

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