10 Ahmedabad schools get bomb threat; turns out to be hoax after search

Ahmedabad, Dec 17 (PTI) As many as 10 private schools in Ahmedabad received an email on Wednesday threatening bomb blasts, which later turned out to be a hoax as nothing suspicious was found during searches, police said.

As a precautionary measure, these schools declared a holiday for the afternoon shift as the morning shift was already over when they received the emails, having a common text, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 1, Harshad Patel said.

After being alerted, police, along with the bomb detection and disposal squad, dog squad and anti-sabotage teams, reached the schools and conducted a thorough search, Patel told reporters.

"In the email sent to the schools, it was claimed that bomb blasts will be carried out in these establishments during the afternoon. As a precautionary measure, these schools declared a holiday for the afternoon shift as the morning shift was already over," he said.

"Our teams reached the schools and conducted a thorough search. However, nothing suspicious was found. Cybercrime teams are now investigating the source of these emails and who was behind them," Patel said.

The exact contents of these emails are not disclosed because the matter is under investigation, he said.

The email purportedly stated that blasts at these schools will take place at 1.11 pm.

The schools which received the threat included Zydus School of Excellence, Maharaja Agrasen Vidhyalaya, Udgam School For Children and Zebar School For Children, the sources said.

In the last two years, several private schools across the state and the Gujarat High Court have received such hoax threats on multiple occasions. PTI PJT PD GK