Day after hoax bomb threat, Noida schools function as usual, few keep children at home

At least four schools in Noida and Greater Noida had to be evacuated after they allegedly received bomb threat over email on Wednesday

A day after students were evacuated from their schools in Noida, Greater Noida, Delhi and Ghaziabad after these institutions received a bomb threat on email, which later turned out to be a hoax, they returned to schools on Thursday.

At DPS Noida in Sector 30, school officials said the attendance dipped by 10% on Thursday but there was no fear among parents and students. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

At least four schools in Noida and Greater Noida had to be evacuated after they allegedly received bomb threat over email on Wednesday morning, sending parents into a blind panic.

According to Noida commissioner of police Laxmi Singh, the schools that received the email include DPS Noida in Sector 30, DPS in Sector 122, DPS in Knowledge Park 5, Greater Noida, and Aster Public School in Sector 3, Greater Noida West.

At DPS Noida in Sector 30, school officials said the attendance dipped by 10% on Thursday but there was no fear among parents and students.

“As the threat turned out to be a hoax, the school functioned as usual on Thursday. We did see a dip in attendance of about 10%, but largely there were no signs of fear among the staff or students or parents,” said an official from the school management, asking not to be named.

DPS in Knowledge Park 5 too functioned as usual.

“The return to school on Thursday was quite smooth; all students and parents were quite relaxed as news reports declared that threat a hoax. The local police were also on alert and were stationed near the school in case of any incident,” said an official from the school management.

Manoj Kataria, founder of the Gautam Budh Nagar Parents Welfare Society, said a majority of parents did not find any reason not to send their children to school on Thursday.

“Following appeals from the police and the media that the threat was a hoax, a majority of parents felt relieved and sent their children to school as usual,” said Kataria.

However, some parents were reluctant to sent their kids to school on Thursday.

“I did not send my son to school on Thursday as we were a little apprehensive about the situation. We decided to let him remain at home for a day, and will send him to school on Friday,” said Manish Tripathi, whose son studies at DPS Knowledge Park-5.

Meanwhile, police said the threat emails are being investigated.

“An FIR has been registered at the Sector 20 police station under relevant sections of the IT Act, against unidentified suspects. Cyber cell of the Noida police has begun investigation into the matter. We are also assisting the Delhi Police in their investigation into the bomb threat emails,” said commissioner Singh.