Gujarat bomb threat probe reveals Bangladesh link, 2 arrested with 5 lakh email IDs

Police have arrested two men in Bihar and Jharkhand for allegedly sending bomb threat emails to the Gujarat Assembly and other institutions. The case has opened up a wider probe into a cross-border email network with suspected links to Bangladesh.

In Short

• Threat emails targeted offices, schools, colleges and courts on 10 September
• The Gujarat department received one mail at 7.09 am from Gmail
• Police traced the digital trail to Bhagalpur before reaching Deoghar

Two men have been arrested in Bihar and Jharkhand for allegedly sending bomb threats to the Gujarat Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister's Office and other institutions, with the probe uncovering an interstate email syndicate with links to Bangladesh.

The arrests were made by the Cyber Center of Excellence after technical analysis traced a threatening email sent on September 10 to Bhagalpur in Bihar. The investigation then led police to Deoghar in Jharkhand, where they arrested the alleged mastermind, who was also accused of supplying thousands of email IDs and passwords.

According to Cyber Center of Excellence Superintendent of Police Vivek Bheda, government offices, the Gujarat Assembly, the Chief Minister's Office, schools, colleges and courts received threatening emails that day.

At 7:09 am, the Gujarat government's Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Department received an email from an address identified as jondmoragn52627@gmail.com. It threatened bomb attacks on the Chief Minister's Office and Gujarat Assembly and also contained threats against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and countries supporting India during the ongoing BRICS Summit.

EMAIL TRAIL LEADS TO BIHAR, JHARKHAND

Following the threat, a technical and field investigation team was formed to trace the sender. An analysis of the email and its digital trail indicated that the account was being operated from Bhagalpur, Bihar.

Investigators arrested Roshan Kumar Bhumihar (Rai) in Bhagalpur. During questioning, he allegedly told investigators that the email ID had been provided to him by Gulshan Kumar Singh, a resident of Deoghar, Jharkhand.

Based on this lead, the police carried out a coordinated operation and arrested Gulshan Kumar in Deoghar.

MASTERMIND CREATED EMAIL IDs SINCE 2022

Investigators said Gulshan had been creating and selling email IDs and passwords since 2022. He allegedly created unique email accounts and supplied them to other people, including Roshan, who was asked to use them for sending threatening emails.

The probe found that Gulshan was allegedly in direct contact with individuals in Bangladesh. According to investigators, he received instructions from his Bangladesh-based associates and paid Roshan to send the threatening emails.

Police said Gulshan was also allegedly involved in creating email accounts using complex methods to bypass authentication processes.

OVER 5 LAKH EMAIL IDS RECOVERED

A major finding of the investigation was the recovery of a list containing 5,13,847 unique email IDs and their passwords, police said.

According to the Cyber Center of Excellence, the accounts were created for sending threatening emails to government offices, schools, colleges and courts, besides being intended for other cybercrimes and illegal activities.

Investigators said Gulshan supplied the email IDs and passwords to other accused and had also shared the list with his associates in Bangladesh. The network allegedly received financial support and instructions from Bangladesh, with cryptocurrency wallets being used for transactions.

A detailed technical investigation is now underway to determine how the 513,847 email accounts were created and whether they were used in other cybercrime cases.

PROBE INTO BANGLADESH LINK UNDERWAY

The police are also trying to identify the individuals in Bangladesh who allegedly provided instructions and financial support to the network.

The operation involved simultaneous field action across three states. The Cyber Center of Excellence said it received support from the Gandhinagar Police in Gujarat and the Bhagalpur and Deoghar police in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Further investigation is underway to establish the full extent of the syndicate and identify other people involved in sending bomb threats and carrying out cybercrimes.

- Ends