A 27-year-old youth was arrested from Kolkata’s Garden Reach area on Friday night for allegedly sending a threat email claiming that a suicide bomb attack would be carried out on the Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, with the help of terror outfit Al-Qaeda.

The arrest was made following a joint investigation by the Kolkata Police Cyber Cell and the Special Task Force (STF).

According to Kolkata Additional Commissioner of Police V Solomon Nisha Kumar, a threat email was received at Bhawanipur Police Station at around 10.15 am on May 14.

The email, sent using the name of a woman, claimed that a suicide attack targeting Suvendu Adhikari was being planned with support from Al-Qaeda. Police launched an investigation immediately after receiving the mail.

During the probe, investigators identified the accused as Hasnain Iqbal (27), a resident of Golam Abbas Lane in Garden Reach. Police said the accused had sent the email and was later taken into custody for questioning.

During interrogation, Hasnain reportedly told investigators that the woman whose identity was used to send the email was known to him. Police suspect he carried out the act to falsely implicate the woman and her family.

Investigators further found that the accused had allegedly sent emails in the past to the Election Commission, various departments of the Government of India, and several other organisations.

According to police, Hasnain was skilled in IT-related activities, including creating IP addresses, and allegedly used his technical knowledge to carry out such acts.