Multiple courts, CRPF schools in Delhi receive bomb threat; all found to be hoax

Multiple courts in Delhi, Saket, Dwarka and Patiala House, along with two CRPF-run schools, received bomb threats on Tuesday morning, prompting large-scale security checks across the national capital, officials said.

Police said an email warning of explosives planted on court premises was received early morning, following which security teams were alerted to inspect the premises of these district courts. Nothing suspicious was found after the security checks.

Around the same time, an unidentified man called the Police Control Room (PCR) around 9 am, claiming that bombs had been placed inside CRPF schools located in Prashant Vihar and Dwarka. The threat triggered immediate mobilisation of local police, bomb disposal squads and the Delhi Fire Services at all locations.

"After receiving the call, teams were rushed to both schools and the buildings were evacuated as a precaution," a senior police officer said. He said the caller's phone switched off soon after issuing the threat, and efforts are underway to trace him.

Parallel checks were carried out at the three court complexes based on the email alert. "We thoroughly inspected the schools, and nothing suspicious was found. The threat was declared a hoax," a Delhi Fire Services official said.

Police sources said similar inspections at the courts are underway, but nothing suspicious has been found so far.

Dhir Singh Kasana, former secretary of the Saket Court Bar Association, said that court proceedings had been suspended for around two hours and would resume after lunch.

Navneet Panwar, vice president of the New Delhi Bar Association in Patiala House courts, confirmed that a bomb threat had been received by email, following which a sanitisation exercise was conducted. "The court proceedings are on. There was only a brief halt," Panwar said.

Meanwhile, there was heavy security in Patiala House courts as Jasir Bilal Wani, NIA's second arrest in the Red Fort bomb blast probe, was to be produced here.

These hoax calls come in the wake of the recent Red Fort blast. A car carrying an improvised explosive device exploded near the historical monument on November 10, claiming 15 lives and injuring several others. Investigators have found the alleged links of the incident with the terror module security agencies busted in Faridabad, Haryana, before the blast.