Chaos, panic as 26 Chandigarh schools get bomb threat emails, senders claim to be ‘Khalistani terrorists’

According to UT education department, the threat hit 26 schools, including at least 10 government schools and five prominent private institutions, till 12 noon.

Panic gripped Chandigarh on Wednesday morning as 26 schools received bomb threats via email, just two days after Republic Day, prompting the mass evacuation of students and a city-wide security sweep.

Parents escorting their wards from a school in Sector 28, Chandigarh, on Wednesday after the bomb scare. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

Chandigarh Police and bomb disposal squads were rushed to various campuses after the threatening communications, reportedly sent around 8am, were flagged by school administrations.

According to UT education department officials, the threat hit 26 schools, including at least 10 government schools and five prominent private institutions, till 12 noon.

While the specific wording of the emails varied, several school heads confirmed the senders claimed to be “Khalistani terrorists”. High-profile institutions targeted include St John’s High School, Sacred Heart Senior Secondary, and Carmel Convent, alongside government schools in Sectors 16, 19, 22, and 35.

The timing of the emails, arriving just as the school day commenced, triggered logistical chaos.

At St Stephen’s School in Sector 45, principal Barry Francis said that while most students were picked up by parents immediately, others remained on the school grounds under supervision. Similarly, Honey Chitkara, principal of Chitkara International, said many students were alerted before opening hours to prevent them from reaching the premises. While some schools utilised their own bus fleets to return children home, hundreds of parents were seen rushing to campuses in private vehicles, causing localised traffic snarls.

UT director, school education, Nitish Singla said that the department is following standard operating procedures and remains in constant coordination with the police. In response to the unfolding situation, the UT administration issued an advisory urging schools to maintain calm and avoid declaring holidays or suspending classes without a verified basis. The administration warned against creating unnecessary panic through unverified rumours.

Security agencies are investigating the origin of the emails to establish motive and authenticity.

As of Wednesday afternoon, bomb squads had not recovered any suspicious items from the searched premises.

The Chandigarh scare coincided with similar threats in Gurugram, where at least six prominent private schools—including Heritage Xperiential Learning School (Sector 62), Shiv Nadar School (DLF Phase 1), and Pathways World School—received identical emails around 7.10am. While the Gurugram authorities suspended classes for the day and postponed Class 12 board practical examinations, the synchronised nature of the threats across the two cities suggests a coordinated attempt to disrupt the NCR and surrounding regions.

Similar bomb threats targeting schools in Delhi, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Bengaluru have been reported over the past few months, most of which were eventually traced to overseas servers and declared hoaxes intended to cause public disruption.