Bomb threat in 6 Delhi schools triggers panic, second incident this week

New Delhi: Six schools in Delhi received bomb threats early on Friday, leading to panic and chaos as parents rushed to pick their children up from the schools.

This latest wave of threats follows a similar incident on December 9, when at least 44 schools received bomb threats by email. Police had later declared those threats to be hoaxes.

A Delhi Fire Services official said the first call regarding the threats came in at 4:21 am, with subsequent calls received throughout the morning.

The fire department, police and bomb detection teams, along with dog squads, have reached the schools and are conducting checks, he said.

Many parents arriving to drop off their children were seen taking them back from the school gates, while those whose children were already on campus returned to pick them up.

The school authorities, meanwhile, shifted to online classes for the day.

Rajiv Solanki, chairman of Venkateshwar Global School in Rohini, said, "When we received the email, the first thing we did was inform the police. However, by that time, the students had already started arriving. We immediately dispersed them, informed their parents, and shifted today's classes online from 11 am."

"The school had previously received a similar threat, which not only created a sense of fear among parents and students but also disrupted their studies," he added.

The schools targeted in Friday's threats are Bhatnagar International School in Paschim Vihar, Cambridge School in Srinivaspuri, DPS Amar Colony in East of Kailash, South Delhi Public School in Defence Colony, Delhi Police Public School in Safdarjung, and Venkateshwar Global School.

A police source said the emails were received at 12:54 am, with the sender mentioning "parent-teachers' meeting" and "sports day" activities in the schools.

The sender also mentioned that the "schools will face bomb blasts" on Friday and Saturday, the source said.

Madhavi Goswami, principal of Cambridge School, said she discovered the email during a routine check and alerted the police around 5:50 am. "They responded promptly, assuring us of a thorough investigation. We informed parents about the situation and shifted all classes online for the day."

Karmveer, a guard at South Delhi Public School, said he received a message at 7:20 am, following which they started to ask the parents coming to school with their children to return.

"Only a few students were already on campus, and they were also sent back home," he said.