Pathanamthitta (Kerala) | An email claiming that an explosive item has been planted at the district collectorate here triggered a major search operation on Friday, police said.

Following the comprehensive sweep, the authorities said the threat was a hoax.

According to police, the email was sent by a person identifying himself as Ramesh from an unidentified email ID and was received at the official email address of the Pathanamthitta District Collectorate around 11.30 am.

The email was immediately forwarded to the District Police Chief, following which employees of the collectorate were evacuated as a precautionary measure, police said.

The sender claimed that RDX had been planted at the collectorate in Pathanamthitta and Wayanad, as well as at the house of Vijay, and that the explosives would go off at 3 pm.

It was not clear whether the sender was referring to actor Vijay.

A thorough search conducted by the police dog squad and the bomb detection and disposal squad confirmed that the email threat was a hoax, police said.

Pathanamthitta police have launched an investigation and will register a case in connection with the incident.

Police said hoax threats targeting public places, including the Kerala Chief Minister's residence, have become frequent in recent times.

However, officials said tracing the senders has been difficult because fake email IDs generated through dark web sources are often used to send such threats.