Delhi airport, hospitals get bomb threat days after scare at schools; search on

Bomb threat in Delhi: Multiple teams of bomb disposal squads and fire tenders were dispatched to hospitals and Delhi airport.

Delhi airport and several hospitals in the national capital were targeted with bomb threats via email on Sunday, prompting authorities to deploy multiple bomb disposal squads and fire tenders.

Delhi hospitals get bomb threat: This incident follows closely on the heels of a recent spate of similar threats in Delhi and Ahmedabad. (Sourced)

The Burari Hospital was the first to report the bomb threat at 3.15pm, according to fire officials.

"An email was received at Burari Hospital regarding a bomb threat. Local police, bomb squad, dog squad were rushed to the spot. Teams are checking the hospital. Nothing suspicious has been found yet," Deputy Commissioner of Police (north) M K Meena said.

The second call came from Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital around 4.26pm.

“Soon after the call, we immediately pressed two fire engines at both the locations. Our teams are still there as the search operation is going on," a Delhi fire services official said.

Police later revealed that a total of eight hospitals – GTB Hospital, DDU Hospital, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, Burari Hospital, Dada Dev Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital – called them about bomb threats. Police said other hospitals received the mail but could have missed it due to the holiday.

Delhi fire services chief informed that the call regarding the bomb threat at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was received at around 6.15pm.

“We received a call around 6.15 pm about a bomb threat at IGI Airport. Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot," Garg said.

This incident follows closely on the heels of a recent spate of similar threats in Delhi and Ahmedabad. Just days ago, more than 130 schools across Delhi-NCR received identical emails, alleging the presence of explosives on their premises. The threats led to widespread panic, resulting in immediate evacuations and thorough searches of the educational institutions.

The Delhi Police approached Russian mailing service company Mail.ru via Interpol to trace the exact source of the e-mails. An FIR was registered against unknown persons stating that the intention of the bomb hoax e-mails was to create mass panic and disturb public order in the national capital.

The hoax bomb threats also promoted the Union home ministry to call for a detailed protocol and standard operation procedures (SOP) to deal with such situations. Earlier this week, the home secretary asked the Delhi Police and schools to coordinate closely to avoid any unnecessary panic due to misinformation.

Read: ‘Pakistan link’ to bomb threat emails to Ahmedabad schools: Police

The ministry also stressed the need to enhance security, CCTV cameras and regular monitoring of emails in schools.

“Home Secretary asked Delhi Police and schools to have close coordination for an effective response mechanism so that misinformation does not create any unnecessary panic,” a release said.

“Home Secretary also emphasised the need to enhance security, CCTV cameras and regular monitoring of emails in the schools. The meeting was attended by the chief secretary and Delhi Police commissioner,” it added.

With PTI inputs