Bomb threats hit over 45 Delhi schools, spark panic among students and parents

Over 45 schools and three colleges across Delhi received bomb threats via emails on Friday, triggering panic among the students and their parents. This is the fourth such day this week when schools in the national capital were a target of bomb threats.

Delhi Police and other quick-response authorities are currently engaged in search and evacuation operations, an official said.

Police, along with bomb disposal and dog squads, and the fire department rushed to the schools and colleges as these institutions started receiving threats via email.

According to the latest information received from authorities, the three colleges that have received such threats are Indraprastha (IP) College for Women, Hindu College and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) in north Delhi, a senior police officer said.

Earlier, schools in multiple districts received bomb threats.

In Dwarka, administration of as many as six schools — St Thomas School, GD Goenka School, DIS Edge School, Modern International School, Dwarka International School and La Petite Montessori — informed police about receiving threats. Subsequently, rescue operations were initiated in these schools.

As per information shared by police, one of the threatening emails read, "Hello. I am writing to let you know that I have placed several explosive devices (Trinitrotoluene) within school classrooms. The explosives are skillfully hidden in black plastic bags." However, nothing suspicious has been found so far in Dwarka schools, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said.

Similarly, in Rohini, evacuation process had to be started after the authorities of — MRG School in Sector 3, Delhi Public School, Sovereign Public School and Heritage Public School in Sector 24, Delhi International Public School in Sector 9, Abhinav Public School in Sector 3 and Heritage School — contacted the police following emails claiming the presence of explosive devices within their premises.

Schools in Pitampura (Maxfort Junior School and Guru Nanak School) and Paschim Vihar (Richmond School and Doon Public School), too, experienced tense hours following the receipt of these emails.

Cyber sleuths have begun their work and are tracking the origin of these threats, according to a police official.

Similar scenes were also witnessed in schools in other parts of the national capital.

Summerfield International School in South Delhi, Bharti Public School (Swasthya Vihar), Hamdard Public School (Sangam Vihar), St. Xavier's Senior Secondary School (Raj Niwas Marg), North Delhi Public School (Shalimar Bagh), New Delhi Public School (Vikaspuri), Mira Nursery School (Janakpuri), Prudence School, The Indian School (Sadiq Nagar), Delhi Public School (Mathura Road), Mater Dei School (Tilak Lane) are also among the 45 schools that were the target of the email threats.

Delhi Jain Public School (Palam), Junior Delhi School, Delhi Public Schools (R K Puram, East of Kailash and Vasant Vihar), The British School (Chanakyapuri), Delhi City School (Bawana), Faith Academy (Prasad Nagar), Amity International School (Saket), Cambridge Foundation School (Rajouri Garden), Big Feather International School, Kulachi Hansraj Model School (Ashok Vihar) are also on the list of schools to receive threats, according to the police.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has slammed the BJP over the matter.

"More than 20 schools have received bomb threats today! Think of the trauma that children, parents and teachers would be going through.

"BJP controls all 4-engines of governance in Delhi, and is yet not able to provide any safety or security to our children! Shocking!" she said in a post on X.

On Thursday, multiple security agencies conducted mock drills at 10 locations to assess their readiness for any emergency.