Multiple schools receive bomb threats in New Delhi, exams postponed

According to the protocol, students and staff were evacuated and bomb disposal squads promptly started searching the premises

Multiple schools in New Delhi received bomb threats through phone calls on Saturday morning. According to a report by news agency PTI, DPS Dwarka, Krishna Model Public School, and Sarvodaya Vidyalaya were among those that received such calls earlier in the day.

 

According to protocol, students and staff were evacuated and bomb disposal squads began searching the premises. For security reasons, DPS Dwarka called off classes and postponed the mid-term exams scheduled for Saturday.

Over 50 bomb threats received last month

The latest wave of threats comes against the backdrop of a series of similar incidents in Delhi schools in recent months. As reported by Business Standard, more than 50 schools across the national capital received bomb threats via email on August 20, marking the second such scare in less than a week. 

  Just two days earlier, on August 18, at least 32 schools had reported receiving identical emails, prompting anxious parents to rush to campuses to collect their children.

Hoax calls on the rise

Most of these threats, often aimed at disrupting exams or creating panic, have turned out to be hoaxes. In May last year, nearly 300 schools were targeted with bomb threat emails, all of which proved false after thorough checks.

 

Police data shows that between January and August this year, 74 educational institutions across Delhi-NCR — including 70 schools and four colleges — have received such threats.  Hoax calls are sometimes made for bizarre reasons. In June this year, the cyber crime unit in Ahmedabad arrested a senior Deloitte consultant for allegedly sending hoax bomb threats across multiple states via the dark web, in an attempt to frame a man she was romantically interested in.

Schools aren’t the only targets

Bomb threats are no longer limited to schools. Courts and airports, too, have increasingly come under such disruptions, stalling judicial proceedings and delaying flights.

 

Just last week, both the Delhi and Bombay High Courts received bomb threats within an hour of each other. Hearings were suspended, and the premises were swiftly vacated. Police teams conducted extensive searches, but in both cases the threats were found to be hoaxes.