UP ATS detains suspect over bomb threat to Diljit Dosanjh's Indore concert

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Tuesday night detained a suspect in connection with a threat to blow up Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh's concert in Indore on November 15. A large number of threatening messages are said to have come from the suspect's email account.

During questioning, the suspect claimed he had sold his email account to another person. The ATS is now looking for the buyer and trying to establish who sent the threat. It is not yet clear whether the suspect himself sent the threat or whether someone else bought the account and used it. The ATS is also examining how the email was used, its sale and purchase, and the motive behind the threat.

The threatening email had arrived on the official email ID of the Gwalior High Court. It warned that the stage of Dosanjh's Indore concert would be blown up with an IED (improvised explosive device). It also threatened to bomb "Jalsa", the Mumbai bungalow of Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan. An earlier threatening email about the concert had also been received in Indore. Madhya Pradesh Police are on alert after the repeated threats.

The ATS had been investigating the email. Tracing its IP address, the agency reached two cities in Uttar Pradesh. The suspect was then picked up on Tuesday night.

Gwalior Police are in the process of registering an FIR on the complaint of the High Court's security in-charge. Investigating agencies are trying to find out who sent the threat and whether the email account was actually sold. Indore and Bhopal Police have also been put on alert after the threat.

Threatening messages about Dosanjh's concerts had earlier surfaced in Delhi and Mumbai as well. A programme proposed in Delhi in October was denied permission because of security inputs. It was later cleared after a review of the security arrangements, and the show took place on October 30. On October 23, the office of Ritu Tawde, former Mumbai mayor, received a threatening email that spoke of targeting Dosanjh's concert.

Following the threats for the November 15 event in Indore, special vigilance is being maintained in the security arrangements.