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3 CRPF schools, 2 KVs get bomb threats
Senior officers in the Delhi police and CRPF claimed that the mail contained the name of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and the accused threatened to blow schools by 11 am on Tuesday.
New Delhi: An e-mail threatening to blow up three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) schools in Delhi and Hyderabad prompted the authorities to put the paramilitary force’s schools across India on high alert and enhance security, people aware of the matter said on Tuesday, adding that the threat later turned out to be a hoax.
Senior officers in the Delhi police and CRPF claimed that the mail contained the name of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin and the accused threatened to blow schools by 11 am on Tuesday. HT could not independently verify the contents of the mail.
The three CRPF schools include two in Delhi (Rohini and Dwarka), one in Hyderabad (Telangana). Besides, the email also threatened an explosion at two Kendriya Vidyalayas situated within the CRPF’s office premises at Panchkula in Haryana and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, the people said.
“Local police, CRPF along with bomb detection teams rushed to these schools on Tuesday. The threat was a hoax,” a senior Delhi Police officer in Dwarka said, requesting anonymity. He added that classes were conducted smoothly on Tuesday.
Citing the threat email, the officer said that all 14 schools of the force in India were put on high alert.
A senior police officer at Delhi police headquarters said: “The email’s subject was ‘clear schools by 11 am’. We read the mail. The accused sent the mail on multiple IDs including the Hyderabad CRPF school. They threatened to blow up the school and named Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. Honestly, the mail had no context.”
The latest threat email was received by CRPF on Monday night, a day after a low-intensity bomb went off outside a CRPF school in Delhi’s Rohini and caused some damage to the institute’s wall, parked cars, and glass panes of nearby shops. The email claimed that improvised devices may explode on the schools’ premises by 11 am Tuesday, the people cited above said.
A CRPF officer, declining to be named, confirmed the content of the email and said it was received by CRPF officials.
Elaborating on the content of the mail, an officer requesting anonymity told HT: “The mail has names of multiple politicians including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and DMK functionary Jajjer Sadiq. The accused also mentioned they planted nitrate-based bombs inside schools and warned authorities to clear schools by 11 am. The accused also mentioned about politics of Tamil Nadu...We think they were writing random facts and allegations to stitch up an email. We have still contacted Tamil Nadu police to look into the matter.”
A police officer familiar with the matter said the Delhi police cyber cell has launched a probe into the threat email while user ID and other details of the sender have been sought from the email service provider.
The Delhi Police said teams were patrolling and coordinating with the school administrations. An official at CRPF’s Rohini school said no threat was received at their school but police were called to keep a check. A senior police officer in Rohini said multiple checks were conducted with the help of dog squad and bomb squad in light of the blast and the hoax bomb threat. “We will have to see if there’s any connection between the two incidents. A probe is being conducted,” DCP (Rohini) Amit Goel said.
A spokesperson for the CRPF’s Dwarka school said there was “no need to panic” as threats have been received at multiple schools. “We also found out about the threats from television news. We think it was received in Hyderabad. Soon, police came here to conduct checks along with the bomb squad. Everything is fine. The school is still open,” the spokesperson said, declining to be named.
