Dehi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta received death threats from an unknown caller on Thursday night. The message came mere days after senior officials received emails threatening to blow up two government buildings in central Delhi. The call was made to the Ghaziabad police control room around 11:00 pm and an investigation has since been launched into the matter.
According to reports, a high-level security alert was triggered in the national capital soon after the call. The Ghaziabad Police had informed their counterparts in neighbouring Delhi and a probe remains underway. Officials confirmed the threats but added that the phone was switched off soon after the call.
Delhi has been plagued by a flurry of threatening messages and calls in recent years — most of which turned out to be a hoax upon investigation. Two major government buildings in the city — Udyog Bhawan and Nirman Bhawan — had received bomb threats less than a week earlier. Security agencies had eventually declared it a hoax after carrying out an extensive sanitation exercise. The threat emails was sent to senior officials early in the morning and claimed that “ammonium sulfur-based Improvised Explosive Devices have been twinned” within the premises.
The Arun Jaitley Stadium had also undergone a similar screening process in early May after the Delhi and District Cricket Association received a bomb threat. Bomb disposal teams, the dog squad as well as Delhi Police were rushed to the site and eventually confirmed that it was a hoax email.
The Delhi government also implemented a new standard operating procedure for schools last month after receiving more than 200 hoax bomb threats for various educational institutions last year.
The incident came even as Gupta was allocated a government bungalow on Friday morning — nearly a 100 days after taking office. She currently resides in Shalimar Bagh with her family and it remains unclear when the relocation will take place. According to an ANI report quoting sources, Gupta has been allotted Bungalows 1/8 and 2/8 on Raj Niwas Marg close to the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. She will only move in once the bungalow is renovated.
(With inputs from agencies)