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8 Delhi schools get bomb threat; day after alert at 30 others

Dec 15, 2024 03:00 AM IST

The schools – most of which were shut on Saturday – received the email at around 6am, according to the police

At least eight more schools in Delhi received hoax bomb threats via email on Saturday morning, marking the third such incident targeting educational institutions in the city this week, and the second in as many days. A day earlier, 30 schools received similar alerts, police said.

Security personnel outside Delhi Public School in RK Puram, New Delhi on Saturday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)
Security personnel outside Delhi Public School in RK Puram, New Delhi on Saturday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The schools – most of which were shut on Saturday – received the email at around 6am, according to the police.

Also Read: Chaos as 30 Delhi schools sent bomb threats again

The affected schools on Saturday included Delhi Public School in RK Puram, Ryan International School in Vasant Kunj, Gyan Bharti School in Saket, and Amity International Schools in Delhi and Noida.

The Delhi Police reported that multi-agency searches involving Delhi Police, the Delhi Fire Services, bomb squads, and dog squads were again conducted on Saturday, but no suspicious items were found, and the threats were once again deemed a hoax.

Also Read: Several schools in Delhi receive bomb threat emails, second threat in 2 days

This follows similar bomb scare incidents earlier in the week, with over 44 schools targeted on Monday and 30 on Friday.

Investigators said they have launched a thorough enquiry into the matter as this marks repeat trend that has led to unnecessary panic. No arrests have been made yet.

Also Read: ‘Our children are brave servants of Allah’, read Delhi schools' bomb threat email

The email on Saturday, sent from an Outlook address, contained alarming language and references to religious themes. It claimed that the bombs were “blessed”, and warned that the buildings would be “brought down”. “...On Saturday, when students may not be there in your buildings, is when the buildings shall be brought down… They shall not fail,” read the mail.

The message also alleged that the sender was being coerced into sending the emails. “They didn’t go yesterday because they saw the evacuation. This time they plan to go early morning to wait inside or around the schools and detonate (the bombs) as soon as the staff arrive… Please help me, they force me to write these emails for them. They have my son hostage,” the email read.

Despite the sinister language, police suspect the threats are the work of pranksters.

“There is no evidence of involvement by any religious organisation,” said a senior police officer. Initial investigations suggest that the email sender used a VPN, with traces pointing to locations in the Netherlands, similar to earlier threats traced to Sweden and China.

Police said a sports event was scheduled at a few schools, which was then cancelled and students were asked not come to school. Others schools evacuated their staff and bomb checks were conducted.

Investigators believe the repeated targeting of schools points to a coordinated effort. “We suspect the same sender or group is behind all these incidents. They are all the same threats to mostly similar schools,” senior officers said.

This is the seventh hoax bomb threat targeting schools in Delhi this year. In May, more than 250 schools received similar threats via email, but no arrests were made in that case either.

Child briefly held for sending threat to own school

In a separate incident earlier this week, police detained a minor from east Delhi who confessed to sending a bomb threat to just one school – their own –in Paschim Vihar in an attempt to delay exams. Police said the minor was picked up earlier this week from their house, taken to police station, where they were questioned, counselled and later let off.

The minor was traced after using their personal Gmail account and computer to send the email.

No case has been lodged against the minor and police said they are not taking any action.

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