Sri Lanka, Dec. 31 -- The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and its Computer Crime Investigation Division (CCID) launched an investigation into a series of hoax bomb threats targeting critical infrastructure and government offices, to determine if external elements are coordinating these incidents to destabilize the nation's security.
The most recent hoaxes were reported on December 28 and 29, 2025, at the Nawalapitiya-Pasbage Korale and Poojapitiya Divisional Secretariats.
According to police, an email warning of a bomb inside a storage room at the Divisional Secretariat was received by the official email account of the office earlier in the day. The message, reportedly sent from overseas, claimed that a bomb placed inside a tent would explode at around 2.00 p.m. on December 29. Following the warning, officials immediately evacuated staff members and members of the public from the premises and alerted the security forces.
The Nawalapitiya Police, Special Task Force, Army bomb disposal unit and the Police K9 unit carried out a thorough inspection of the storage room and the entire office premises.
After extensive searches, authorities confirmed that no suspicious objects or explosives were found. A similar bomb threat received via email by the Poojapitiya Divisional Secretariat on the same day and later it was confirmed as a hoax following investigations.
Despite the threat being declared false, police have deployed special security at the Poojapitiya Divisional Secretariat as a precautionary measure.
These followed a major security scare at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on December 28, when a flight from Doha carrying 245 passengers was isolated and searched by the Police Special Task Force (STF) and Army bomb disposal units.
On December 26, the Kandy District Secretariat was also targeted by multiple emails claiming explosives were planted in five locations, leading to a total lockdown and the evacuation of both staff and the public.
Intiail investigations by the CCID have traced the origin of these threatening emails to foreign countries.
Police said they suspect that these acts were intentionally designed to create public unrest and disrupt the government's efforts to revive the tourism sector.
Sources said that the CID is collaborating with international intelligence agencies to identify the individuals behind these disruptive messages.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.