Ten schools in Ahmedabad were forced to shutter their doors after receiving bomb threats on Wednesday — the latest in a series of hoax emails that have plagued investigative agencies across the country. The emails arrived in the afternoon and vowed to “take revenge” for unknown grievances. Officials had subsequently launched an investigation as the schools in question declared a holiday for afternoon shift students.
According to a PTI report, the police had reached the schools with the bomb detection and disposal squad, dog squad and anti-sabotage teams after being alerted about a possible threat. They led an extensive search but found nothing suspicious.
“In the email sent to the schools, it was claimed that bomb blasts will be carried out in these establishments during the afternoon. As a precautionary measure, these schools declared a holiday for the afternoon shift as the morning shift was already over. Our teams reached the schools and conducted a thorough search. However, nothing suspicious was found. Cybercrime teams are now investigating the source of these emails and who was behind them,” said Deputy Police Commissioner Harshad Patel.
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What did the emails say?
The email purportedly stated that blasts at these schools will take place at 1.11 pm. Sources told PTI that the schools in question included Zydus School of Excellence, Maharaja Agrasen Vidhyalaya, Udgam School For Children and Zebar School For Children.
Officials said the exact contents of these emails are not disclosed because the matter remains under investigation. According to an ANI report, at least three schools received messages that said: ‘We will take revenge’ without much elaboration. Multiple source-based reports also cited the police to suggest possible links to Khalistani elements.
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Recurring issue
Earlier on December 12, several schools in Amritsar, Punjab, also received bomb threats via email, which were a hoax according to ADCP-2, Sirivennela. The police official stated that they determined the threats were fake after they conducted anti-sabotage checks.
Delhi schools were also targets of such threats, as two schools received bomb threats on December 10. Additionally, Sanskriti School also received an email that directly mentioned the Khalistan movement and the plan to bomb the school later that day. It read, “Aaj 12:05PM Bomb Blast Hove Ga? Jhoote Police Muqabale Khalistan Referendum Walian De In Punjab: Khalistan De Movement nu Delhi 2UN Tak Laye”
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