Mumbai: The Mount Mary church in Bandra increased its security checks since Thursday after it received a threat email warning of an attack by the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
According to the probe, the threat was allegedly sent by a 'mentally ill child' on the website of the church. The police has deemed the threat as fake and have registered a case for further investigation.
Email received in feedback section
According to the police, the email was sent in the feedback section of the church’s website around 7:28 pm on Thursday claiming that there would be a terrorist attack. However, a minute later, the church official received another mail at 7:29 pm in which a woman claimed that the threat email was sent by her 'mentally ill child' and she apologised for it.
The police have declared it as a fake threat but have registered a case under section 505(3) for further investigation.
“Even though there was another email apologising for the fake threat, the IP address of the email will be tracked to verify if the claims of the woman are true. The police does not take any terrorist threat lightly, we will further investigate and have deployed police personnel for protection at the church,” said senior police inspector, Rajesh Devare, Bandra police station.
Woman issues apology
"Someone on our (Basilica of Mount Mary) website wrote a threat yesterday. Minutes later the mother of the person said that it was her son who is mentally unstable and apologised. We reported the matter to the police who have provided security and the Church too has taken precautionary measures so that services are not disturbed," said Fr. Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay on the threat to the Basilica of Mount Mary.
"The threat was in the feedback section of our website where people normally contact us for special prayers. The threat was not exactly a proper email or sentence. It was through words. As a precaution, we informed the police and they have stationed security outside Church premises. We have kept only one entry point and have closed all others. Guards have been increased from three to five and those entering are frisked and checked. A metal detector already existed. We have also stopped the entry of vehicles. We will wait for police to tell us what exactly it was," said a person from the Church in the know of the issue.
