Delhi was struck today with over 100 schools in the city receiving bomb threats leading to a massive rush by the Delhi Police, bomb squad and more trying to reach all the schools and prevent anything disaster from happening.
Rohit Meena, DCP South West said “We got information that the same email was sent to several schools at around 4:15 am. We took action and made the decision to close the schools and send the students back home.”
As per the Delhi Police over 100 schools in Delhi received bomb threats including Mother Mary’s School, Sanskriti School, Delhi Public School and Amity School along with –
- 22 schools from Shahdara
- 18 schools in south Delhi
- 21 schools in west Delhi
- 24 schools in east Delhi
- 30 schools in southwest Delhi and
- 16 schools in outer Delhi
The schools also carried out swift evacuation of the students and staff along with giving minute-by-minute updates to parents about their wards to ensure that a panic-like situation was not created.
Some schools did find that handling the parents was more challenging compared to the students and plan to send out a circular letting the parents know the standard operating procedure during such crisis situations.
Mail Originated From Russia
On May 1st, 2024, several schools in the Delhi-NCR region received bomb threats via mail saying, “Kill them wherever you meet and drive them out of the place from which they drove you. There are many explosive devices in the school”.
The mail was revealed to have been sent from Russia with a single IP address being used from the domain ‘mail.ru’. A source speaking with ANI said, “These kinds of emails are usually sent using a VPN connection to enable the sender to mask the original IP address. The cyber team is confident of tracing the IP address”.
The investigation also revealed that the same email has been sent to various places since Tuesday following the same pattern “The mail does not mention a dateline or BCC, which means that one message has been sent to many places. The investigation is ongoing,” as per the police.
Read more: 200 Schools Receive Bomb Threat In West Bengal; Police In A Tizzy
‘Swaraiim’ Word Used
The use of a word in the mail also came under scanner as per reports. The email ID that sent the threats was sawariim@mail.ru and the word ‘Sawariim’ was revealed to be an Arabic word that has been used by the Islamic State since 2014 to spread Islamist propaganda.
According to an ANI report, “The e-mail ID from which Delhi NCR schools were sent the bomb threat letter is sawariim@mail.ru. The investigation so far has revealed that ‘Sawariim’ (clashing of the swords) is an Arabic word which has been used by the Islamic State since 2014 to spread Islamist propaganda. Delhi Police is investigating if there is a conspiracy of any organisation behind these threatening e-mails”.
Threats A Hoax
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clarified that the threats were just a hoax in a statement saying, “It appears to be hoax call. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol”.
Suman Nalwa, a public relations officer with the police, also said “someone had done this to create panic” and that “Nothing untoward has been found so far.”
Delhi education minister Atishi also said “So far nothing has been found in any of the schools. We are in constant touch with the Police and the schools. Would request parents and citizens not to panic. School authorities will be in touch with parents wherever needed.”
Ravinder Yadav, Special CP, Delhi Police Crime Branch speaking with ANI said, “These emails were received in several schools. Some hospitals also received these emails yesterday. Thorough checking is going on. Bomb Disposal Squad, Dog Squad and fire tenders are present here. Even if it is a hoax call, we cannot take chances. We will conduct an investigation.”
Reports also state that security has been placed and increased in various parts of Delhi with Deputy Commissioner of Police (railways) KPS Malhotra telling PTI, “We have stepped up security at every station. We have also alerted our staff to keep a strict vigil on any suspicion activity”.
The Delhi Police also evacuated the schools closed them as precautionary measures and conducted thorough searches for anything suspicious.
A senior security officer also said, “A general advisory has been issued in the Delhi Metro network, and CISF personnel have been asked to remain extra vigilant” while another revealed that city borders have been barricaded and additional police and paramilitary forces had also been deployed in several areas of Delhi.
The emergency phone of the city police had started to ring from 6 am with bomb threat reports and lasted till 3 pm. A bomb and dog squad, bomb detection unit, bomb disposal team, and team from the Delhi Fire Service were also sent out to each location to check and verify the situation.
According to a PTI report, a senior police officer said, “Every district has its own one bomb squad and one dog squad. If needed, we take help from other districts. But today the situation was totally different as all the schools of Delhi in different 15 districts received bomb threats through e-mail”.
As per the police, the case is now under the anti-terror cell of Delhi Police and a dedicated team will be investigating the threats, “The matter is related to national security. It needs a deeper probe,” a senior police official said.
A Delhi Police senior officer also said “We are in the process of registering a first information report (FIR) in connection with the bomb threat emails received at schools in the national capital. It is certainly a terror threat. As of now, we can not definitely say if any terror group is behind the bomb threat emails or any individual sent such emails. Our probe is underway.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Livemint, BBC, The Economic Times
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Delhi School Bomb, Delhi NCR schools, bomb threat, email, Delhi police, LG Saxena, Delhi fire brigade, bomb squad, delhi school news, delhi school news bomb, delhi schools bomb threat today, delhi schools bomb threat, delhi school bomb scare
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
Other Recommendations:
When Economy Is Doing Well, Why Are IITians Getting Low Salaries?
