3 Delhi schools receive hoax bomb threats; over 70 institutions targeted so far this year

New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) Three schools in Delhi's Dwarka area received bomb threats on Monday, triggering panic and prompting student evacuation, before officials confirmed that the threats were a hoax.

The institutions targeted were Delhi Public School (DPS), Modern Convent School, and Shree Ram World School, a senior police officer said, adding that the threats were received via e-mail in the morning.

Multiple teams of the Delhi Police, including the bomb disposal squad and dog squad, were rushed to the three campuses. A thorough search operation was carried out before the police declared the threats to be fake.

"Search operation is completed and nothing suspicious was found," the officer said, adding that cyber forensic teams have begun work to trace the IP address of the sender.

DPS Dwarka later announced the closure of the school for the day.

In an official statement, it said, "The school has been closed on Monday due to unavoidable circumstances. Students travelling by school buses and private vans are being sent back immediately, and teachers on bus duty will share the location updates. Parents are requested to kindly pick up their wards from their respective bus stops. For private commuters, parents are requested to collect their wards directly from the school." According to police, several units, including cyber cell and special staff, are analysing the email headers and other digital footprints to ascertain the origin of the messages. Investigators suspect the involvement of pranksters, but have not ruled out the possibility of organised attempts to disrupt normalcy.

"We are coordinating with service providers to trace the IP location and will examine whether the same source is behind earlier threats received by other institutions this year," another senior police officer said.

Between January and August, around 74 educational institutions – 70 schools and four colleges -- across Delhi-NCR have received similar threats, according to police data.

On January 8 and 9, more than 10 schools, including DPS Vasant Vihar, Amity School in Saket, Salwan Public School, and Modern School in Vasant Vihar, were affected.

Less than a month later, on February 5, four Noida schools received threats via e-mail. On February 7, three institutions -- Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Shiv Nadar School in Noida, and St. Stephen’s College in Delhi – were targeted.

On July 14, three schools -- Navy Children School in Chanakyapuri, CRPF School in Dwarka Sector 16, and CRPF School in Prashant Vihar -- received threats via e-mail. A day later, on July 15, three more institutions were targeted -- St. Thomas School in Dwarka, St. Stephen’s College, and a school in Rohini.

Again on July 16, five schools received bomb threats via e-mail. These were St. Thomas School in Dwarka, Vasant Valley School in Vasant Kunj, The Mother’s International School in Hauz Khas, Richmond Global School in Paschim Vihar, and Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Lodhi Estate.

On July 18, more than 45 schools were targeted across Delhi, including those in Rohini, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar, South Delhi, and Central Delhi. In total, six schools in Dwarka reportedly received threats during July.

Additionally, three Delhi University colleges -- IP College for Women, Hindu College, and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) -- also received bomb threats.

On July 17, the Delhi Police apprehended a 12-year-old child for sending bomb threat emails to St. Stephen's College and St. Thomas School in Dwarka on July 15. Police had detained the child for questioning and released him after counselling.

According to officials, while all of these incidents were declared hoaxes after thorough inspections, every case is treated with full seriousness.

"Even if these are hoaxes, they cause panic among students and parents. We are pursuing every lead to identify and take strict action against those behind such acts," the officer added.

Police said investigations into earlier incidents are still underway, and they are exploring whether the repeated threats are part of a coordinated pattern.

Bharat Arora, President of the Action Committee of Unaided Pvt Recognised Schools, described the repeated bomb threats as “profoundly concerning”.

“These threats cause significant disruptions to the academic schedule and instill fear and anxiety among students, their families, and educators,” he said. PTI BM SSJ SGV SHB RHL