BSE receives hoax bomb threat from fake ‘Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan’ email

The BSE Ltd (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange), one of India’s major bourses, received a bomb threat on Tuesday via an email, according to a report by ANI citing Mumbai Police.

The police and bomb squad reportedly reached Dalal Street following the alert but did not discover any suspicious items.

The email, which warned that four RDX explosives would go off at 3.00 pm on Tuesday, came from an ID ‘Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan’, a fake moniker referring to the incumbent Kerala Chief Minister.

Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg Police in Mumbai registered a case against a person under sections 351(1)(b), 353(2), 351(3), 351(4) of BNS, and further investigations have been initiated, as per the agency report.

The BSE, along with the National Stock Exchange (NSE), are the two major stock markets in India. The BSE benchmark Sensex is usually used as an unofficial yardstick to determine the health of the Indian economy. Headquartered at Dalal Street in South Mumbai, it is among the oldest public share market institutions in the country.

While BSE shares (listed on the NSE) dipped in early Tuesday trade, they recovered later and traded at least 1.65 per cent higher, indicating that the hoax had a minimal impact on the stock itself.

The Sensex continued Monday’s recovery and traded in the green on Tuesday. By noon, the 30-pack benchmark was up by around 0.5 per cent.

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