Security personnel at Mother Mary’s School, Mayur Vihar, after multiple schools received a bomb threat, in New Delhi, Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Around 100 schools in Delhi received bomb threats via email on Wednesday, triggering panic and mass evacuations in the national capital.
Here's what we know so far:
1. It has been confirmed that at least a dozen schools have received threat emails, but The Indian Express reports that the number is likely to be closer to 100.
2. Among the prominent schools which received the threats is the high-profile Sanskriti School in Chanakyapuri. Delhi Public Schools in several localities—R K Puram, East of Kailash, Vasant Vihar, Dwarka, Noida, Sector 122, and Knowledge Park 5—have also received the threats, as have a few Amity schools. Threat mails have also been received by the Army Public School, the St Thomas' Girls Senior Secondary School, and Mother Mary's School in Mayur Vihar. Further details are awaited on the full list of schools that received the emails.
3. The Delhi Police have said that the emails are likely the work of one perpetrator, as they found that one email had been sent to multiple email IDs. Efforts are on to identify the perpetrator.
4. The emails were sent at around 4.15 am on Wednesday morning, the police confirmed, which is possibly why many schools were caught unawares.
5. The threats are likely a hoax—while searches continue in Delhi, cops so far have found nothing suspicious in any of the schools searched, thereby suggesting that the mass threat mail is likely a hoax.
6. Delhi education minister Atishi has assured parents that the situation is under control and that there is no need to panic. "Some schools have received bomb threats today morning. Students have been evacuated and those premises are being searched by Delhi Police. So far nothing has been found in any of the schools," the AAP leader posted on X, adding that she was in constant touch with the police and that there was no need to panic.
7. Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has sought a detailed report from the police about the incident—"Spoke to the Police Commissioner and sought a detailed report into the bomb threats at schools in Delhi-NCR. Directed Delhi Police to carry out a thorough search in school premises, identify the culprits & ensure there are no lapses," he posted on X.
8. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs too has assured parents that the threat appears to be a hoax.
9. The incident in Delhi isn't the first of its kind in recent times: mere months ago, over 45 schools across Bengaluru received hoax bomb threats.