The ongoing investigation into multiple hoax bomb threats targeting high-security locations and luxury hotels in the city has encountered a serious obstacle—lack of cooperation from Microsoft. The cybercrime unit revealed that while the company confirmed the threatening emails were dispatched from France, it has refused to provide crucial details such as the user identities and devices involved.

Despite repeated attempts, the cyber team claims Microsoft’s Indian representative failed to respond to official communication until a court directive was issued. Even then, the information shared was vague and insufficient to move the probe forward.

Authorities expressed frustration, noting that Microsoft appears unwilling to go beyond its internal policies, citing the absence of a bilateral agreement between India and the United States for data exchange. “We received informal communication stating that their hands are tied due to company rules and international legal limitations,” a source added.

The hoax emails were sent from various Outlook and Hotmail accounts—like drezhilanaganathan@outlook.com, asifagafoor@hotmail.com, and yaisirkarbala@outlook.com. These messages threatened explosions at specific times, citing vengeance for the execution of Afzal Guru, a convicted terrorist.

Vital public institutions, including the Secretariat, collectorate, court premises, airport, RTO, railway station, and premium hotels were named in the threats. In total, 16 cases are being actively pursued in the state, with similar challenges being reported by investigative teams in Tamil Nadu where over 200 comparable incidents have occurred.

The cyber unit may now explore alternative legal avenues to obtain the withheld data.