DELHI: Indian capital New Delhi and adjacent district of Noida were gripped by panic on Wednesday morning as over 100 schools received bomb threats via email. The schools were immediately evacuated, and students were sent home.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the emails appeared to be a hoax and there was no need to panic. Delhi Police also confirmed that nothing suspicious was found during checks at the schools.
The bomb threats were received by schools across Delhi and Noida, including prominent institutions like Delhi Public School (DPS), Mother Mary’s School, Sanskriti School, Amity School, and DAV School.
As soon as the threats were received, the schools were evacuated, and students were sent home. Parents rushed to the schools in a state of panic.
Preliminary investigation suggested that the IP address used to send the emails was from Russia. Delhi Police suspected that the IP address could be masked through a VPN.
“The server of the IP address used to send the emails is located abroad. Russian language has been detected in the IP address,” sources said.
The MHA, in a statement, said the emails appeared to be a hoax and there was no need to panic.
“There is no need to panic. The emails appear to be hoaxes. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking the necessary steps as per protocol,” the statement said.
Delhi Police also said it had conducted a thorough check of all schools and said the emails were sent to create panic.
“Delhi Police has conducted a thorough check of all such schools as per protocol. Nothing objectionable has been found. It appears that these calls seem to be hoaxes,” the Delhi Police PRO said.
Contents of the emails have been made public by the Indian authorities and media with reference to Muslims.
The email contains words like Allah, Insha Allah and Jihad.
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi VK Saxena directed the Delhi Police to identify the culprits at the earliest.
“Spoke to the Police Commissioner and sought a detailed report into the bomb threats at schools in Delhi-NCR. Directed Delhi Police to carry out a thorough search in school premises, identify the culprits and ensure there are no lapses,” Saxena said in a post on social media.
This is not the first time schools in Delhi have received bomb threats. In February this year, Delhi Public School, RK Puram, received a bomb threat call. A search operation by the police did not reveal anything suspicious.
