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Security tightened at Bachchan's Jalsa after bomb threat email; actor greets fans on Sunday as police probe
Mumbai Police have stepped up security around Amitabh Bachchan's Juhu home, Jalsa, after a bomb threat email reported on Friday, which reportedly reached a school in Bandra-Kurla Complex. Bachchan met fans on Sunday with son Abhishek. One report says checks found nothing suspicious.
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Mumbai Police have increased security around the Juhu bungalow of actor Amitabh Bachchan, Jalsa, after a bomb threat email that was reported on Friday. Bachchan, 84, came out on Sunday, 25 October, to greet fans outside the house, as he does every Sunday, with his son Abhishek standing behind him, while police stood near him and fans waited behind barricades. The police have opened an investigation. The reports differ on important details, and what is clear is limited.
What is known about the email
The email was reported to the Mumbai Police on Friday. One report says that it was received by a school in the Bandra-Kurla Complex area. Another says that it reached the mayor's office on 23 October and named Jalsa, the mayor's office and a concert venue as targets. It is not clear whether the threat referred to Jalsa or to Prateeksha, the other bungalow that the family owns, and the reports do not give the words of the message.
The police have checked the places named in the reports, and one account says that they found nothing suspicious. The reports do not describe the specific checks or findings of the police, and they do not say who sent the email or from where. Threats of this kind are often sent in bulk to many institutions, and many turn out to be hoaxes, but they have to be treated as real until they are checked.
Sunday's darshan
The Sunday gathering outside Jalsa is a long-standing ritual. Fans gather at the gate, and Bachchan comes out to wave to them. This week, there were more police than usual, with barricades and personnel in place. One report links the tighter security to the investigation into the firing on the actor Tiger Shroff's car in Juhu earlier this month, which, it says, added to concerns about the safety of film personalities in the area. That is the report's reading and it has not been confirmed by the police.
Abhishek Bachchan joined his father on Sunday, and the two were seen from behind the barricades by fans who had come to the gate as they do every week. The actor has also written on his blog that he needs more rest as he recovers, in a post in which he spoke of adjusting and wondering about the uniqueness of the human body, and the reports do not say what he is recovering from.
The threat is not the first of its kind. In August 2021, a hoax call about a bomb at Jalsa and three railway stations in Mumbai set off a search by the police. It was traced to a caller in Thane, who turned out to be a truck driver. That case is an old one and is not connected to the present threat, but it shows how such calls usually end.
A film star's house is a public landmark, and a crowd of fans gathers there every week. A threat that names it forces the police to take steps that include searches by the bomb squad and the dog squad, checks of vehicles near the house and an increase in the number of personnel. They also have to trace the email, which means asking the service provider for details of the sender, a process that can be slow if the account is abroad.
The wider setting is a city in which film personalities have been the subject of threats and attacks in recent weeks, and where the police are under political pressure to show that they can protect them. The Congress has demanded the resignation of the chief minister over the Tiger Shroff firing case, and the state government has promised to pursue those responsible. Against that background, even a threat that is likely to be a hoax gets a visible response.
The email itself may help the investigation. Police will look at the headers of the message, the account it was sent from and whether the same text was sent to other addresses, and the report that a school and the mayor's office both received it suggests a wide mailing and not a message aimed at one family. For Bachchan's fans, the practical effect is that the Sunday gathering is likely to go on under more police supervision. The police have not announced any change to it.
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