An international bank’s branch located on Karachi’s I.I. Chundrigar Road was the subject of a bomb hoax on Thursday.

Police, bomb disposal squad officers, and rescue workers rushed to the Standard Charted Bank Pakistan’s (SCBP) branch in the city’s financial hub after the bank’s security manager reported an email that claimed a bomb was planted inside the bank.

City SSP Shabbir Ahmed Sethar told Dawn.com that the threat turned out to be fake after the bank’s premises were searched thoroughly and eventually cleared.

The senior police official said that the bank’s security manager had informed the police that there were more than 1,000 employees in the building, following which police contingents arrived at the location and the branch was evacuated.

SSP Sethar said the email received by the bank staff demanded the termination of an employee, warning that the bomb would go off in case of non-compliance.

The SSP further said the bank did not have on its books any employee of the name whose termination was demanded in the hoax email, adding that the Federal Investigation Agency has been approached to trace the person behind the email.

Meanwhile, the SCBP told Dawn.com that it has “taken all precautionary measures to ensure the safety of our staff, customers, and property”.

“The Authorities have been informed. The staff and operations of the bank are unaffected by the situation. Our business in the city and the rest of Pakistan is functioning normally,” it added.

According to their official website, SCBP is the oldest and largest international bank in Pakistan. The bank, which started as the Chartered Bank opened its first office in Karachi in March 1863. It employs over 2,800 people in Pakistan and has a network of 40 branches in 10 cities.