Bomb scare in Delhi-NCR schools: Waking nightmare for parents!
Parents in Delhi-NCR share the ordeal they had to undergo to bring their children home safely after several schools received bomb threats on Wednesday morning.
Wednesday morning turned into a nightmare for several parents in the Capital after 100 private schools across Delhi-NCR received bomb threats via email.
Some schools reportedly received threatening emails as early as 4am; others were quickly evacuated, with Delhi Police arriving at the scene soon after. Although a police statement later confirmed that it was a hoax, but parents found themselves in an anxious rush as they raced to pick up their children.
Banker Ananya Bhattacharya, whose four-year-old daughter studies at DPS Dwarka, which was the first one to purportedly receive the threat, says, “The school sent us a message around 6.18am saying that it would remain closed due to unavoidable circumstances. However, some of us didn’t see that message during the morning rush and reached the school anyway. We were told by the staff that nobody was allowed to enter. We thought maybe there’s a fire. Only upon reaching home did we find out about the threats in the news.”
“When I got the message, I panicked and took off on foot without waiting for a cab or hailing an auto,” says Harish Chandra, a chef. He informs, “My wife left immediately to pick up our son (eight) from Amity School, Saket while I rushed to pick up my daughter (10) from Sanskriti School in Chanakyapuri. They weren’t letting us go inside easily.”
For homemaker Shyam Dulari, mother to a six-year-old, “It was like every other morning” until she saw the news. “I immediately called my husband and though he reassured me saying that our daughter’s school hadn’t called, the mum’s WhatsApp group that I’m part of was blowing up! It was only when I had my daughter in my sight that I breathed a sigh of relief.”
“We got a message from GD Goenka Public School, Dwarka around 9.30am that the kids were being sent back. My kids came back on the school bus, and only those kids who use other transport were pick up by their parents,” shares Shavey Vats, resident of Janakpuri and mum to a nine and a three-year-old, while Shilpa Dawar, a quality analyst at a healthcare firm and mother to a three-and-a-half-year-old boy adds, “My child studies in The Srijan School, Model Town. When I reached upon hearing the news, there was a lot of crowd. On one side were media persons and on the other side there was school's security and Delhi Police personnel. The evacuation situation was very tense and I was relieved only after I saw my child safe.”
Adding to this, Varun Ailawadi, a sales manager at an IT company and father to an eight-year-old girl, shares, “I work during night shifts and was asleep when my friend called and told me what was happening all over the news. That’s when I saw a flurry of WhatsApp messages too. I immediately called up my daughter’s school, GD Goenka in Model Town, and was told that though they’ve checked the premises thoroughly if I wish to pick up my daughter, I could… Upon reaching the school I saw a lot of chaos as I crossed a narrow lane that has four schools in the same area. Of course it led to a messy traffic situation as well. But thankfully we spotted the teachers and faculty, who were making sure that children are handed to the parents in a timely and efficient manner. Thanks to them, I managed to pick up my kid and bring her back home safely.”