100 schools evacuated; Delhi L-G calls bomb threats a hoax
What's the story
Almost 100 schools in Delhi-NCR were evacuated after receiving a bomb threat via email.
According to reports, police officials are on the site and conducting thorough search operations at each location.
Sanskriti School in Chanakyapuri, Mother Mary School in Mayur Vihar, and Delhi Public School in Dwarka were among the first schools to receive the email.
One of the schools, Mother Mary, was conducting an exam, and had to stop it midway as the search operations started.
Statement
Have traced original of hoax bomb emails: L-G
Assuring strict action, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday said the police have traced the origin of the hoax bomb emails.
He had gone to DAV School in north Delhi's Model Town after the schools received the bomb threat.
"The Delhi Police have traced the origin of the emails. I am assuring citizens of Delhi that the police are alert, getting leads, and will take strict action," Saxena said.
Via foreign servers
Email sent using a VPN
According to an NDTV report, it took some time for the police to trace the email's origin as it was sent using a virtual private network (VPN) that routed and rerouted data via foreign servers.
The police managed to narrow down on the internet protocol (IP) address, a unique identifier, after retracing the VPN traffic and found the source of the email, the report said.
Response
Swift evacuation and search operations initiated
Upon receiving the threats, local police were immediately alerted and swift evacuation procedures were initiated.
Scenes from the schools showed anxious parents rushing to collect their children.
Teams specializing in bomb detection and disposal, along with officials from Delhi Fire Service, have been deployed to the schools and an investigation is underway, reports said.
Statement
Urge parents not to panic: Atishi
In response to the incident, Delhi Minister Atishi urged parents not to panic.
In a post on X, she said, "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."
"We are in constant touch with the Police...schools. Would request parents and citizens not to panic. School authorities will be in touch with parents wherever needed," she added.
Investigation
No suspicious objects found, previous hoax recalled
Meanwhile, police said that as of now, no suspicious objects have been discovered by the search teams at the schools.
To recall, a similar threat was received by Delhi Police School in RK Puram in February, which was later revealed to be a hoax.
The investigation into the current threats is ongoing.