Bomb hoax at 44 Delhi schools causes chaos

However, police still cranked up security across the Capital, setting up cordons and keeping emergency response vans on standby

At least 44 schools across Delhi received an email warning that explosives had been placed at their premises, resulting in panic and confusion on Monday morning as the institutes hurriedly evacuated thousands of alarmed students midway through their classes, even as security forces launched sweeping checks across dozens of campuses.

Security personnel outside DPS, RK Puram after the bomb threat on Monday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT photo)

Delhi Police said the emails were declared a hoax by Monday afternoon after search operations yielded no incendiary devices. However, police still cranked up security across the Capital, setting up cordons and keeping emergency response vans on standby outside major schools.

“A thorough cordon and search operation was carried out by local police, bomb disposal squad and dog squad. Each and every class, nook and corner of the schools were checked before the email was declared a hoax,” a senior officer probing the case said.

This is the second time that Delhi’s schools received a bomb threat via mass email — before this, more than 250 schools across the National Capital Region (NCR) were threatened with explosives on May 1, before that mail too was declared a hoax.

To be sure, there are at least five other occasions over the last two years when schools in Delhi received a bomb threat that were later declared a hoax. However, those emails were sent to individual schools, and not sent as a mass email.

None of these cases have been solved as of now.

Speaking about the latest threat email, Delhi Police spokesperson and additional commissioner of police Sanjay Kumar Tyagi said that the email was sent late on Sunday night, but schools reported the threat only early on Monday morning. Once alerted, Tyagi said, police teams visited the schools and ensured the safety and security of the students and staff.

The email in question was sent by a Gmail id, and demanded $30,000 for not detonating the “bomb”, officers said.

“Teams are working on reaching the source of the email, and the sender after which legal action will be taken against them,” Tyagi said.

All the schools that HT spoke to confirmed that they cancelled classes for the day, and evacuated the students, following which Delhi Police searched the entire premises.

Meanwhile, anxious parents swarmed outside school gates to get their children to safety and teachers scrambled to vacate institutions.

The main apprehension that everyone had was — what if the threat mail were to someday come true?

“We got a message from the school informing us that students were being sent back in school buses… Though bomb threats have become an almost regular occurrence now, what if someday it is actually true? There was a lot of panic among parents,” said Nitin Gupta, 40, whose child is a Class 7 student at Srijan School in Model Town, one of the institutes which received the threat.

Anil Kumar, principal of Delhi Public School (DPS), RK Puram, said the school staff discovered the email at about 6am, when they logged into the system.

“We were informed by the staff and we let police know. Parents were immediately informed that the school will remain closed on Monday, so thankfully we were able to shut before any students arrived. Police searched the premises and by 7.15 am, we were told that nothing was found,” Kumar said.

SK Gupta, chairman of North-Ex Public School in Rohini, said, “We were informed by our staff about the email at 9 am. Students who come by school buses were sent back home, and the parents of others were informed to pick up their wards. We also informed police immediately.”

The bomb threats also triggered a spat between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal put the failure to nab the culprits behind the hoaxes on the Union government.

“Providing security is your responsibility, and you must fulfil it. Today, I demand that [Union home minister] Amit Shah come to Delhi, sit with its citizens, and give them the assurance that he will ensure their safety,” Kejriwal said.

“Despite so many threats, not a single culprit has been caught... Why is Amit Shah not taking action?” he added.

In response, the BJP asked Kejriwal to “act mature”.

“Schools and some other institutions have been receiving hoax threat calls. The Delhi Police and concerned schools have taken them seriously, and till date, no mishap has been allowed to happen. In today’s internet era, it’s not an easy job to stop such threat calls as anyone from anywhere in the world can do this,” Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.

“It will be better if Kejriwal acts mature while speaking on such issues,” he added.

Bomb threats at Gurugram hotels turn out to be hoax

Gurugram: Panic gripped the city after bomb threats were emailed to five branches of Inde Hotels and another prominent hotel in Gurugram on Monday morning. Following the alert, police teams, along with bomb disposal squads, conducted extensive search operations at the hotels located in Cyber Hub, Sector 45, and other areas. Despite thorough checks with the help of bomb squads and sniffer dogs, no suspicious objects were found.

According to Gurugram Police, the threat email was reported by the hotel management, prompting immediate action. “As soon as we received the information, teams were dispatched to the hotels to ensure the safety of staff and guests. Preliminary investigations suggest the email was a hoax designed to spread panic. We are tracing the IP address to identify the sender,” said a senior police officer. However, no formal complaint was filed by the hotels, and as a result, no case has been registered.

Sandeep Kumar, spokesperson of Gurugram police said that they got information from the hotel management through dial 112 only but did not receive any complaint in the matter. “No case has been registered,” he said.

The incident comes on the same day as bomb threats were reported at 40 schools in Delhi. While no suspicious objects were found, authorities discovered that the emails demanded $30,000 to prevent the detonation of bombs. Similar to Monday’s events, Gurugram faced a bomb scare at Ambience Mall four months ago, which was also deemed a hoax after thorough investigation. Police remain on high alert to ensure public safety and are actively investigating these cases.