- Police cyber crime unit investigation underway
The bomb scare at the Kandy District Secretariat was the result of an email originating from India, Acting Police Spokesperson ASP Minura Senarath told The Sunday Morning, stressing that exhaustive searches had confirmed there was no threat and that the incident was a deliberate hoax.
“The bomb scare investigation has been completed and nothing at all was identified. There was an email originating from India. It is not from Indian Intelligence or anything, but it had originated from India,” ASP Senarath explained, adding that further investigations were now underway to identify those responsible for sending the email.
The threat, which triggered a major security operation at the Kandy District Secretariat on Friday (26), had been communicated through an anonymous email sent to the secretariat.
The message had claimed that explosive devices had been planted at multiple locations within the secretariat premises, prompting authorities to immediately activate emergency security protocols.
According to Police, the email had alleged that explosives had been placed at five separate locations inside the secretariat, with some versions of the threat referring to the possibility of a vehicle-borne explosive device within the compound.
As security forces were conducting the initial sweep of the premises, a second email containing a similar warning had been reportedly received less than an hour after the search operation had commenced, heightening concerns and extending the lockdown.
ASP Senarath said investigations had since revealed that the threat was not credible and had been deliberately fabricated to cause alarm. “The Computer Crime Investigation Division is investigating further as to who had actually sent the mail,” he said.
A large-scale joint security operation had been launched immediately after the threat was received. The operation involved officers from the Kandy Police, Police Special Task Force Bomb Disposal Unit, Sri Lanka Army Bomb Disposal Unit, and Police K9 Division.
Explosive sniffer dogs had been deployed to search offices, meeting halls, storage areas, and parking facilities within the secretariat complex, while all vehicles on the premises were subjected to thorough inspections.
The secretariat had been placed under lockdown for more than six hours, during which staff members and members of the public had been evacuated as a precautionary measure. Police later confirmed that no suspicious items, explosive devices, or materials linked to an attack had been found anywhere within the premises.
ASP Senarath further stated that a special traffic plan and a security protocol, including officers in plain clothes, would be activated in the coming days in urban and vulnerable areas to ensure that safety and security were sustained.