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

New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) At least 32 schools in the national capital received bomb threats on Monday, triggering panic and prompting student evacuation, before officials declared them hoax.

Delhi Fire Services stated that between 7.30 am and 12.25 pm, they received calls from 32 schools informing about the threat e-mails.

Multiple teams of Delhi Police, including the bomb disposal squad and dog squad, were rushed to the campuses. A thorough search operation was carried out in each of the campuses before the police confirmed that the threats were 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.

According to the Delhi Fire Services, a majority of the schools were from the Dwarka area. These included Delhi Public School, BGS International Public School, Shri Venkateshwar School, Global School, Shiksha Bharti Global School, Adarsh World School, Dwarka International School, Bal Bharti Public School, Venkateshwar School, Paramount International School, CRPF Public School, Sachdeva Global School, Indraprasth International School, Saraswati Public School.

The other schools that received threat included Holy Heart Public School, Gyan Sagar Public School, Shiv Vani Model Senior Secondary School and Kennedy Public School -- all in Palam village; JBM Public School, Palam; Jai Bharti Public School and Deep Model Public School in West Sagarpur; RMS Convent School, Sagarpur; Veer Public School, Kapashera; Oxford Foundation School, Baba Haridas Nagar; Nav Gyandeep Public School, Dabari-Palam Road; RM Convent School, Kailash Puri Extension; RD International School, Daulatpur; CDM School, Dharampura; Sunrise Public School, Tajpur Khurd; Shri Ram International School, Najafgarh; New Solanki Model Public School, Jai Vihar, and Andhra School, Prasad Nagar.

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

In a 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 e-mail 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 -- also received bomb threats.

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

Officials said that while all of these incidents were declared hoaxes after thorough inspection, every case was 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 Private 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 BM RUK RUK