KOLKATA, INDIA — A 27-year-old man was arrested from Kolkata’s Garden Reach area for allegedly sending a threatening email to law enforcement, vowing a suicide bomb attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. The threat explicitly stated that the attack would be carried out with the assistance of the global terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. The arrest was executed late Friday night following a swift, joint operation by the Cyber Cell and the Special Task Force of the Kolkata Police, according to senior officials on Saturday.
The investigation commenced immediately after the Bhowanipore police station received the alarming email around 10:15 a.m. on May 14. Additional Commissioner of Police V. Solomon Nesakumar revealed that the sender had masked their true identity by using a woman’s name to issue the threat against the Chief Minister. Digital forensic teams traced the email trail directly to Hasnain Iqbal, a resident of Golam Abbas Lane in Garden Reach. Upon his arrest and subsequent interrogation, Iqbal admitted to fabricating and sending the message.
Investigators uncovered that Iqbal possesses advanced knowledge of information technology, displaying significant skill in manipulating IP addresses and developing sophisticated technical tools to obscure his online tracks. Preliminary findings indicate that the woman whose identity was stolen was an acquaintance of the accused. Law enforcement suspects that the primary motivation behind the severe threat was personal animosity, specifically aimed at harassing or falsely implicating the woman and her family in a major counter-terrorism investigation.
This is not the first time the suspect has targeted official bodies. Police technicians discovered that Iqbal had previously sent unauthorized emails to various prominent government institutions, including the Election Commission of India. Authorities have seized his digital devices for deeper forensic analysis to ensure no broader security networks were compromised. Iqbal remains in police custody as the Special Task Force continues its thorough investigation into his digital history and past communications.
