NEW DELHI: As many as 131 schools in Delhi, five in Gurugram and three in Noida and Greater Noida were forced to evacuate their students on Wednesday morning after receiving emails that mentioned explosives being planted on school premises.
Within a few minutes, the police in the national capital and its surrounding areas swung into action even as they kept receiving PCR calls from schools, one after another.
Fire brigades were alerted and cops from almost every police station in the city began rushing to the schools “in need.” Simultaneously several teams of bomb disposal squads were deployed which launched search operations.
School authorities informed the parents about the development that gripped the city residents in panic and parents rushed out to know the well-being of their wards.
Before mounting the search operation for explosives, the police personnel first cordoned off the entire compound of every school. The children were handed over to their parents while the senior class students were allowed to go home.
For several hours, the police along with bomb disposal squads kept scanning the schools, but couldn’t find anything. By 11 am, the cops were sure enough to announce that the threats were a hoax.
“Some Delhi schools received emails about bomb threats. Delhi Police conducted thorough checks of all these schools as per protocol. Nothing objectionable was found. These calls seem to be a hoax. We request the public not to panic and maintain peace,” a senior police officer said.
The MHA also said that there was no cause for alarm. “It seems to be a hoax call. Delhi Police and security agencies are following the standard protocols and taking appropriate measures,” said the MHA in a statement.
According to data gathered by this newspaper from different police districts, 24 schools received the threat email in east Delhi, 21 in west Delhi, 15 in south Delhi, 22 in Shahdara, eight in each in southwest Delhi, including Dwarka, five in Rohini, two in North and one in northeast Delhi. The figures from the rest of the districts were yet to be counted.
Meanwhile, the Special Cell of Delhi Police has registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC and investigation will be conducted by its Counter Intelligence Unit. The NIA may also take up the probe since the role of a terror group is suspected and the “conspiracy” angle may lead to a pan-India investigation, an official said.
Daylong anxiety for parents
Hardly an hour after parents dropped their kids to schools when they received messages from school authorities informing them about the email threat. Parents rushed to pick up their children and school authorities scampered to bring the students to safety. Delhi Police faced a daunting task as it rushed its dog and bomb squads from one school to another. The panic situation lasted till evening.
Foreign IP address, dark web…
Wednesday wasn’t the first time when Delhi schools received emails threats. One such threat, which claimed that two bombs were planted in DPS RK Puram in February this year, remains unsolved. “Suspects using a foreign IP address and a tor browser on dark web,” said an officer. The ID, which was used to send the threat on Wednesday was sawariim@mail.ru, a Russian domain email.