Lucknow's Taj Hotel receives bomb threat via email demanding ransom

On Monday, Lucknow's iconic Taj Hotel in the Hazratganj area received a threatening email warning of a potential bomb blast on its premises. This incident follows a similar wave of threats sent to 10 other hotels in the city on Sunday, prompting immediate security action and extensive searches by bomb squads across multiple locations. These threats, initially alarming, were later declared baseless after a complete inspection of each hotel's premises.

The email, sent to several high-profile hotels such as Marriott, Saraca, Piccadilly, Comfort Vista, Fortune, Lemon Tree, Clarks Avadh, Casa, Dayal Gateway, and Sylvette, contained explicit threats and a ransom demand. According to the email, bombs were allegedly hidden within black bags on hotel premises, and the sender demanded a ransom of $55,000 (approximately ₹46.2 lakh) in exchange for not detonating the explosives.

A portion of the threatening email read, “Bombs have been hidden in black bags in your hotel premises. I want $55,000, or else I will detonate the explosives, and blood will spill everywhere. Any attempt to defuse the bombs will make them explode.” Authorities responded promptly by deploying bomb squads to conduct searches of the affected hotels, including the Taj Hotel, to rule out any security risks.

Local authorities have confirmed that a dedicated investigation team is working to trace the origin of the emails and to ascertain if there are any links to previous threats. As a precaution, increased security measures have been implemented at the Taj Hotel and surrounding areas, with periodic checks to ensure visitor safety.