Kolkata, Jan 5 (IANS): Kolkata Police and personnel from the bomb-squad took possession of the premises of the iconic Indian Museum in central Kolkata following a bomb threat message received by the museum authorities on Friday.

The bomb threat was sent through an email to the museum authorities where it was said that "any possibility might lead to casualties of several innocent people".

The museum authorities immediately informed the city police headquarters.

As per the latest information available, a police contingent has cordoned off the entire museum premises and the sleuths of the bomb-squad were searching each and every room within the premises to detect the existence of any explosive item.

The employees of the museum and the visitors were brought out of the premises before the bomb-squad sleuths went in. A notice has been issued by the museum authorities announcing a ban on the entry of the visitors for a reasonable amount of time.

Investigation has also started regarding the sources of the email through which the bomb alert was sent, a city police official said.

In August 2022 a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan posted in the security duty for the museum fired indiscriminately from his service AK-47 rifle killing one of his colleagues in the force and leaving another injured. He was later neutralized following an hour of an operation by a joint team of Kolkata Police’s combat force and CISF.