Kerala police have arrested a US-based Tamil Nadu technology professional accused of sending more than 200 hoax bomb threats against public institutions, courts, airports, hotels and religious places across the state since 2023. Police said the alleged campaign disrupted the functioning of government offices and courts and triggered emergency responses at several locations.
The accused, identified as Sharath Subramanyam, was arrested by Tamil Nadu police in July 2026 after arriving at Chennai airport in connection with allegations that he sent more than 1,500 hoax bomb threats across India. A team from the Thiruvananthapuram city cybercrime police brought him to the state capital on a production warrant and arrested him on Saturday, city police commissioner Arul R B Krishna said, according to the Times of India.
Police said Subramanyam had worked in the information technology sector for 12 years and was involved in research related to artificial intelligence. He allegedly used AI to send the threats and followed their impact through local news reports. The allegations have placed cyber-enabled disruption alongside more conventional security risks faced by airports, courts, government buildings and places of worship.
Around 40 of the alleged threat emails targeted establishments within Thiruvananthapuram city limits, police said. The locations named in the report include Thiruvananthapuram airport, the chief minister’s official residence at Cliff House, the governor’s residence at Lok Bhavan, the Secretariat, the district court, the collectorate and five-star hotels. The German consulate in the city was also allegedly sent an email claiming that explosives, including RDX, had been planted there.
The reported targets represent a wide cross-section of the city’s essential institutions. Airports and government offices operate through tightly coordinated security and administrative systems, while courts and hospitals depend on predictable access for hearings, casework and public services. Repeated false alarms can require evacuations, searches and deployment of police and bomb-disposal teams even when no explosive device is ultimately found.
Court functioning was affected after threat messages were allegedly sent to court complexes, including the Thiruvananthapuram district court, on six occasions. In one incident on March 18, 2025, a bomb threat claiming that explosives had been planted at the district collectorate led officials to evacuate the building. During the subsequent inspection, a disturbed beehive caused several people, including senior officials, to be stung. Those affected received treatment at Peroorkada district model hospital and Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, the report said.
Police also alleged that the accused targeted the websites of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple and Attukal Bhagavathy Temple to obtain email addresses and send threats. The messages disrupted devotees’ access to the shrines, adding religious and visitor-management sites to the list of affected institutions. The state police chief and the transport commissionerate were also among the alleged targets.
The case is now being handled through criminal and cybercrime proceedings following the production-warrant transfer to Thiruvananthapuram. The allegations, including the number of messages and the use of artificial intelligence, remain matters before investigators and the courts. Police have not indicated in the supplied report what further charges or investigative steps will follow.
