Security Agencies on High Alert After Email Threatens Bomb Blasts During PM's Haryana, Punjab Visit

It also threatened to target Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu.

The email was purportedly sent on behalf of a group identifying itself as the "Khalistan National Army", which has in recent months issued similar threats, including against the RSS' Nagpur headquarters.

It contained references to Khalistan, farmers and slain human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, and expressed support for singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh.

Dosanjh has played the role of Khalra in the film ‘Satluj’, which was mired in controversy after it was pulled from the OTT platform ZEE5 for viewers in India two days after its release on July 3 as the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting cited security concerns.

The film depicts the life of Khalra, who investigated the alleged illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies in Punjab between 1984 and 1994 when the state was in the grip of terrorism.

The email claimed that improvised explosive device (IED) blasts would be carried out at schools, the Mohali Mayor's office and the railway stations in Jalandhar and Chandigarh.

According to the officials, the email was sent from the ID " kengakira@gmail.com". It claimed that blasts would take place at schools at 1:11 pm and at the Mohali Mayor's office at 3:11 pm on July 17.

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana on July 17 to inaugurate and announce various development projects. He will address a rally in Jind, Haryana.

Following the threat, police and security agencies launched an investigation and stepped up security arrangements at sensitive locations.

Authorities are verifying the email's authenticity and the credibility of the threat, the officials said.