BENGALURU: It has come to light on Monday that Bishop Cotton Girls' School too had received a bomb threat on April 8 when 14 other schools in Bengaluru outskirts and rural areas received the threat via e-mails.
It is understood that the authorities of the school, by oversight, failed to notice the mail. However, the police are probing into the "negligence" angle on the part of school authorities.
It was around 1.30 pm that the authorities from the school contacted the Cubbon Park police after they admittedly noticed the e-mail at around 1.20 pm.
The school had functioned on Friday when the mail was sent.
As a precautionary measure, upon receiving the complaint from the school, a police team accompanied by the bomb disposal squad searched the school premises and confirmed it was a hoax.
However, hundreds of parents upon hearing about the bomb scare rushed to the school to take home their wards. As a result of the rush, traffic was thrown out of gear on Residency Road from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
According to a senior police officer, the school principal checked the mail only at noon on Monday. As soon as the principal informed the police the school premises was searched for two hours to dispel the fear of the students.
"We have sought a valid reason in writing from the principal about their negligence in failing to check the e-mail and alerting us only on Monday. If the reasons are not justified, a case of negligence and risking the lives of children at the school will be filed. Based on the principal's statement we will further take action. Meanwhile, based on a complaint by the school authorities, an FIR has been filed against the miscreants," said Maruthi, police inspector of Cubbon Park police station.
This is the 15th mail sent to Bengaluru schools on April 8.
Meanwhile, police commissioner Kamal Pant told reporters that five special teams have been formed to investigate the hoax mails case. A team of experts from the Cyber Crime Wing is collecting details of the mails and locations to track the movements of the miscreants who were behind sending such messages randomly.