A bomb threat email sent to the Asansol District Court in Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, caused extreme panic during the busy time of the court and the court was evacuated. District Judge Debprasad Nath received the message around 11:30 am on his official email ID, which claimed that an RDX-based improvised explosive device (IED) had been planted at a specific location in the complex. In this, a distant threat was given to carry out a blast at noon (or in some reports at 1 pm) and it was said that 5-7 Maoists were entering the court premises and the judge’s chamber to do this.
Asansol-Durgapur Commissionerate police responded immediately, and used loudspeakers to move the case litigants, lawyers, staff and prisoners to a safe distance. Bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs were deployed to thoroughly search the place. No explosives or suspicious items were found, leading officials and sources to suspect it was a hoax, although investigations continued to trace the sender.
This incident was not isolated: similar threatening emails disrupted at least six courts across the state, including the City Sessions and Bankshall courts of Kolkata, Durgapur, Chinsurah (Hooghly), and Berhampur (Murshidabad). The court proceedings were stopped for some time amid tight security.
Initial reports mistakenly mentioned a phone call, but it was later confirmed to be email-based. The District Judge stressed on taking precautions for security while shifting prisoners as per protocol. There were no injuries, and the complex was cordoned off during the operation. Authorities called it a false alarm in line with a recent trend of hoaxes elsewhere, and an investigation is ongoing to identify the perpetrators and prevent it from happening again. The incident exposed weaknesses in judicial security amid routine operations.
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