India: Threat of 'bombing', dozens of schools in Delhi closed

Bomb threats to dozens of prominent schools in India's capital New Delhi have sparked panic among staff and parents, leading to cancellations of classes and evacuation of students.

Bomb threats to dozens of prominent schools in India 's capital New Delhi have sparked panic among staff and parents, leading to cancellations of classes and evacuation of students.  

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said that more than 60 schools received emails threatening to blow up the schools on Wednesday morning, but so far no suspicious objects have been recovered from the buildings.

Prominent schools in and around Delhi, including 'Mother Mary School' in Mayur Vihar, 'MT International' in Saket and branches of Delhi Public School in Dwarka and Noida, also received similar emails. It was claimed that explosives had been planted in these campuses.

After the threats, a state of emergency was created in these schools and the police dispatched bomb disposal squads, fire brigades and sniffer dogs for search operations in the schools.

In the videos, students can be seen queuing up outside schools to return home, and police officers and sniffer dogs cordon off campus premises conducting search operations.

In all schools, the school administration has canceled classes as a precautionary measure.

Some schools of Delhi received E-mails regarding bomb threats. Delhi Police has conducted thorough check of all such schools as per protocol. Nothing objectionable has been found. It appears that these calls seem to be hoax.

We request the public not to panic and maintain peace.

Delhi Public School in Noida said in a message to parents: 'You are informed that the school has received an email warning of a threat to the safety and security of students. As a precautionary measure, we are sending the students back home immediately.'

"Bombs have been planted in some parts of the school and we cannot take any risk as it is a matter of children's lives," school principal Kamini Bhasin told news agency ANI.

He said: 'Students were moved to an open area and police and parents were informed and all students have been sent back.'

Delhi Police, on the other hand, said in a statement: 'During preliminary investigation, it appears that the mail has been sent to multiple locations since yesterday and appears to be part of a pattern.'

The police further said, 'These (mails) do not mention the date line but have been BCCed which means that the same mail has been sent to multiple places. It is currently being further investigated.'

Amity Pushp's Vihar and Saket branches have also received bomb threats and have been evacuated on police instructions.

An Amity Group spokesperson said the school has been closed for today until further notice.

Delhi Education Minister Atashi said that some schools have received bomb threats and nothing has been recovered from any school so far.

He added: 'We are in constant contact with the police and the schools. Parents and citizens are requested that there is no need to panic.

He further said that the school authorities will be in touch with the parents wherever necessary.

Police said all the emails have the same source, which appears to be from India. He added that it is suspected that VPNs can be used to hide the source of emails.

This is not the first time that a school in Delhi has been threatened. However, this is the first time in recent history that multiple schools have been targeted with bomb threat emails.

In February this year, a bomb threat was received at Delhi Police School in RK Puram area of ​​the capital, after which the police registered a case.

In May last year, Delhi Public School on Mathura Road was also evacuated following a bomb threat which later turned out to be a fake email.