A major security scare unfolded in West Bengal after Kolkata Police arrested a man accused of threatening a suicide bomb attack on Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari in the name of terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda. The accused, identified as 27-year-old Hasnain Iqbal, was arrested following a joint operation by the cyber cell and the Special Task Force (STF) of Kolkata Police.
According to police officials, the threatening email was sent to Bhabanipur Police Station on May 14. In the email, the sender allegedly warned that a suicide bomb attack would be carried out on Suvendu Adhikari “with the help of Al-Qaeda.” The message immediately triggered security concerns and prompted an investigation by the cyber wing and STF units.
Additional Commissioner of Police-IV, V Solomon Nesakumar, said investigators traced the digital trail of the email during the probe and eventually located the accused in the Garden Reach area of Kolkata.
Police officials revealed that Hasnain Iqbal allegedly sent the threatening message while impersonating a woman. During questioning, investigators reportedly found that the woman whose identity was used was known to the accused personally.
According to the police, preliminary investigation suggests that the accused may have attempted to falsely implicate the woman and her family due to personal hostility. Officials stated that Iqbal allegedly admitted during interrogation that he had personal enmity with the woman and deliberately used her identity while sending the threatening email.
The development has raised serious concerns about misuse of cyber tools and fake digital identities to issue terror threats and frame innocent individuals.
The investigation was carried out jointly by Kolkata Police’s cyber cell and the STF. Investigators traced the email trail to Golam Abbas Lane in Garden Reach, where the accused was eventually located and arrested on Friday night.
Police said Hasnain Iqbal is a high-school graduate with technical knowledge in information technology. During the investigation, officers reportedly found that he was skilled in creating IP addresses and using related technical tools to conceal digital activity.
Officials also recovered the mobile phone allegedly used to send the threatening email. The device has been seized for forensic examination as part of the ongoing investigation.
The case has drawn attention because the accused invoked the name of Al-Qaeda while threatening a political leader. Although investigators currently suspect that the motive may have been personal rather than ideological, the use of the name of a global terror organisation in a threat against the CM has intensified concerns regarding online radical rhetoric and cyber intimidation.
Security agencies are expected to examine whether the accused acted entirely alone or whether any external digital links or online influences were involved.
The arrest comes amid heightened political tensions in West Bengal involving BJP leaders and social media controversies. Just days earlier, two online content creators were arrested in Dinhata for allegedly posting an offensive and derogatory video targeting Suvendu Adhikari.
West Bengal Police had then warned that strict legal action would be taken against individuals spreading abusive or inflammatory content online that could hurt religious or social sentiments.
The latest incident involving a terror threat has once again highlighted growing concerns around digital misuse, fake identities, cyber threats and politically sensitive online activity in the state.
Police officials said further investigation into the matter is underway.
