Delhi's prominent St. Stephen's College and two schools in Delhi-NCR received bomb threats over email on Friday, prompting police to deploy explosive disposal units and dog squads to comb the premises, officials said, as reported by PTI.
The threat emails were also sent to Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar and the Shiv Nadar School in Noida.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ram Badan Singh later dismissed the threat email sent to Shiv Nadar School as a "hoax."
"At 7:42 am, St. Stephen's College received a bomb threat via email. Our bomb and dog squads are on the ground, checking the entire premises," a senior Delhi Police officer said, as quoted by PTI.
An officer in the East Delhi district said officials of the Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar Phase-1 informed the police around 6:40 am that they had received an email regarding a bomb on the premises.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Singh said the police received information from Shiv Nadar School about a bomb threat. Dog squads, bomb disposal units, fire brigades, and police teams reached the campus and conducted checks, but nothing was found.
"It was a hoax email, maybe sent by a student," he added.
Principal Anju Soni said in a message to students' parents and guardians that the school would remain shut on Friday for a sweep.
"This is to share that we have received a threat to the safety of students on campus. We are, therefore, closing down for the day in order to complete a sweep to ensure safety for all," she said.
Bomb Threats In Delhi School
Back in December, A day after around 30 schools received bomb threats in Delhi, several other schools, including DPS RK Puram, received similar bomb threats via e-mail on Saturday morning, marking the third instance in the national capital this week.
Around 30 schools in Delhi received bomb threats over email early on Friday, triggering a multi-agency search of the premises. Nothing suspicious was found in any of the schools after the searches.
The development came within days since at least 44 schools received similar emails on December 9. Police had declared those threats as hoaxes.
Following the scare, Delhi schools suspended their classes and urgently sent students back home. Officials from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) added that bomb detection teams, fire officials, local police, and dog squads responded immediately and conducted searches at the schools.
In May 2024, bomb threats to over 200 schools across Delhi and NCR sent authorities into alert mode and parents into panic, prompting the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to step in and issue a statement that the threats were most likely hoax.
Teams of police, bomb squad, fire service, and other agencies rushed to conduct checks; parents left home or offices to pick up their children as the count of schools that received threats grew rapidly. Some schools that did not receive threats also asked parents to pick up their ward as a precautionary measure.
The MHA, Delhi Police later said nothing was found after thorough checking. Delhi Police Crime Branch Special CP Ravinder Yadav said apart from schools, these emails were received by some hospitals also.
