Delhi police arrested a 47-year-old man from Mysuru for allegedly sending over 1,100 hoax messages threatening schools, high courts, and government offices across the country. The accused, identified as Srinivas Louis, was arrested on Thursday, March 26, from his rented house in Brindavan Layout.
Srinivas was taken into custody after several bomb threat messages were sent over the past week to the Delhi High Court, Assembly and several educational and government institutions. The messages caused an upheaval in the normal functioning of these institutions, with a judge of the Delhi High court lodging a formal complaint after receiving a threat email, Hindustan Times reported an officer saying.
Srinivas Louis is a retired government employee who lives with his mother. He is a postgraduate and native of Bengaluru.
A laptop and multiple SIM cards were recovered from his possession and are being examined to gather further information and to ascertain whether he had any accomplice. The threats were sent through emails and other communication channels, leading to multiple FIRs being registered across multiple states.
TNM had earlier reported on how India has seen a sharp rise in hoax bomb threats in recent years, with police agencies describing it as a growing “epidemic” driven by motives ranging from pranks and exam avoidance to personal disputes and attempts to create panic. Each threat, even when false, triggers full-scale emergency responses, including evacuations, bomb squad deployment and multi-agency searches, often bringing normal activity in schools, courts, airports and government offices to a halt.
Officials say these repeated hoaxes are straining already stretched police resources and diverting manpower from real emergencies, while advances in technology such as VPNs and fake identities are making it harder to trace those responsible.
This article was written by a student intern working with TNM.