DELHI: Nearly 100 schools in Delhi and at least two schools in Noida received a bomb threat via email on Wednesday morning, sparking serious concerns about the safety and well-being of students enrolled in those educational institutions.
The shocking news of this threat incited a sense of panic among the parents and guardians of those students and they immediately rushed to the schools out of concern for their loved ones.
This threat also prompted the educational institutions to evacuate their campus at the earliest and send back the students for the sake of their safety.
As per the Delhi Police, all the schools that received the bomb threat were thoroughly checked and nothing of that sort was found in their premises.
Ravinder Yadav, Special CP, Delhi Police (Crime), also informed that some hospitals also received similar emails on Tuesday.
As a sense of anxiety gripped amidst the tense situation, bomb detection teams, bomb disposal squads and personnel from Delhi Fire Service were rushed to schools as the cops started receiving calls by the dozen about the bomb threat.
Delhi Public School's (DPS) Dwarka and Vasant Kunj units, Mother Marry School in East Mayur Vihar, Sanskriti School, Amity School in Pushp Vihar and DAV School in South West Delhi were among the 100 schools that received the threat. In Noida, DPS and Apeejay School also received similar threats.
"Delhi Public School, Noida, has received an email that threatens the safety and security of the students. As a precautionary measure, we are sending the students back home immediately," the principal of DPS Noida said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the emails appeared to be a hoax after meticulously scrutinizing it.
"There is no need to panic. The emails appear to be hoaxes. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking the necessary steps as per protocol," the statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs affirmed.
According to reports, preliminary investigation suggested that the IP address used to send the emails originated from Russia.
Although not confirmed, Delhi Police suspected that the IP address could be manipulated through a VPN.
"The server of the IP address used to send the emails is located abroad. Russian language has been detected in the IP address," sources said.
A probe is underway to look into this matter.