CHENNAI: Panic gripped Chennai after at least 13 private schools in the city received bomb threat through emails on Thursday morning.
Multiple bomb detection squads and sniffer dog teams conducted anti-sabotage checks at the schools in Mannady, JJ Nagar, Anna Nagar, Gopalapuram, Nandambakkam and Royapettah, among others, police said.
A police press release issued later in the day said all the 13 schools were checked and the threat turned out to be a hoax. Special police and cyber crime teams have started an inquiry to trace the culprits behind the threat mails.
“All the emails were sent from a single email ID and the cyber crime police have been brought in to trace and identify the person(s) behind this,” said Prem Anand Sinha, Additional Commissioner of Police (South) Chennai, at a press meet held at the Chennai City Police Commissioner office on Thursday afternoon.
He said the email service through which the threat mails were sent was a “problematic” one as it makes it difficult to trace the sender. The email said if school authorities fail to take immediate action, the bombs would explode soon. The senders have not made any demands, the police officer said.
As per the press release, a case has been registered with the Cyber Crime Wing of the city police and an “intensive investigation” is under way to nab the culprits who sent the email.
Parents told not to panic
“On behalf of the police, students, parents and school management are advised not to panic,” the release said. When the news broke out, several parents rushed to the schools to take their children home. While some schools sent the children home after receiving the mails, others asked the students to assemble on their school ground.
A head of one of the private schools that received the threat mail told TNIE , “We received an email around 10 am that said two bombs were planted in the school. The mail also said taking action swiftly is important. We called the police immediately.
The students were moved to the school ground and parents started arriving before lunch.” The email id to which the threat mail was sent is the school’s official mail ID found printed in the school dairy, the source said.