Veterinary college in Kerala’s Wayanad gets hoax bomb threat

Hoax bomb threat at Kerala veterinary college deemed false after extensive search by police bomb and dog squads.

A bomb threat was received by a veterinary college at Pookode in Wayanad district of Kerala on Friday (January 31, 2025) morning but was ruled out as a hoax by the police after an extensive search of the institute by the bomb and dog squads.

According to K.S. Anil, the vice chancellor of the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) here, an email was received on his and the Registrar's official ids from an account with the name Niveditha Prithviraj claiming that IEDs were placed at the veterinary college and the U.S. Consulate in Chennai.

“The reason given for placing the bombs was the ‘unfair hanging’ of Afzal Guru. It said the bombs were placed by a naxal leader called T. Maran. We immediately informed the police and they deployed the bomb and dog squads to search the institute,” he said.

A senior police officer said the search did not yield anything, and the email, which was a group message, appeared to be a hoax aimed at creating panic among the public.

The officer said the police were investigating the matter and trying to find out the source of the email.