Three district courts in Chhattisgarh get bomb threat; searches on

Three district courts in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon, Durg and Bilaspur received bomb threats via anonymous emails on Thursday, prompting police to launch a thorough search of the premises, officials said.

The threat message was received on the official email IDs of the Rajnandgaon, Durg and Bilaspur district courts, following which police were alerted, they said.

An email, sent by an unidentified person, threatening a suicide attack using RDX-based improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was received at 10.07 am on the official email ID of the Rajnandgaon court. The sender also warned that judges should be evacuated from the premises by 2.35 pm, a police official in Rajnandgaon said.

The district collector and the superintendent of police were immediately alerted with directions to take necessary security and protective measures, he said.

A police team, along with the Bomb Disposal Squad and dog squad, was immediately sent to the court and the premises was evacuated, he said.

''During the search, no suspicious object, bomb, explosive or any dangerous material was found anywhere in the premises,'' the official said.

A similar threat was received on the official email IDs of Durg and Bilaspur district courts, following which police at the respective places swung into action and launched searches, officials said.

An investigation was underway to trace the source of the emails, they said.