Bengaluru: An email containing a bomb threat received by several schools in Bengaluru, including a government-run institution, on Friday morning led to widespread disruption.
The incident prompted numerous schools to release students early, forcing working parents to leave their offices in haste to pick up their children.
The panic escalated rapidly, compelling even schools unaffected by the threat to cancel classes and advise parents to take their children home.
Some schools chose to close for the day under parental pressure, even as school managements and law enforcement officials handled the situation efficiently.
Despite parental demands, certain schools maintained composure, and continued classes as scheduled. In some instances, some children panicked to see parents of their peers turn up to take them home.
“It had become difficult for us to manage as parents started arriving at the school gate following the news reports on TV channels and messages circulated on WhatsApp groups,” said a teacher from a private school in Bengaluru South.
“We had to send children home when parents forced/demanded so, but this inconvenienced other kids as their parents had left for work. They then started demanding for mobile phones to call their parents,” the teacher added.
A school that received the email threat said the first one landed at 6 am and a series of emails kept coming till about 7.30 am to several IDs of the school. “Our school buses were arriving when we received the emails, and we immediately alerted the police. We also circulated a notice to parents and rerouted the buses,” said a representative from a school management.
D Shashi Kumar, general secretary, Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, pointed fingers at the Department of School Education and Literacy for publishing school details on its portal.
“This was clearly an attempt to create unnecessary unrest and confusion in society. While bomb threats are not new for schools, we need to be cautious about how miscreants obtain school details. The department is publishing even confidential information about private schools publicly, and we request the maintenance of confidentiality,” he said.
Kumar urged the police department to identify the culprits and take appropriate action against such acts.
Responding to the incident, Kavitha Gupta Sabharwal, founder of NEEV Academy, emphasised the importance of ensuring the safety of educational spaces.
“Schools need to be safe spaces, so all threats need to be taken seriously. We count on the police and cybercrime authorities to bring the people behind this to justice. Education and children should be left alone,” she stated.
NEEV Academy was among the schools that received the email threat.