Bengaluru: Forty-eight private schools in Bengaluru on Friday morning received an email with a bomb threat on its premises, triggering panic among the staff and parents, police said.
The school authorities immediately alerted police, who reached the institutions concerned with the bomb disposal squads and anti-sabotage check teams, they said.
The students and staff were immediately evacuated from the school premises, police said, adding no suspicious objects have been found yet and prima facie, it looks like it’s a hoax message.
“So far, 48 schools in Bengaluru have received an email about bomb threat. The message about a bomb threat was received from an email id. Search operations are almost over and so far, our teams have not found any suspicious objects on any of the school premises. Prime facie, it appears to be a hoax message. We are also in the process of registering a case in this regard and a thorough investigation is underway,” a senior police officer said.
Students had already reached schools when they got to know about the email threat. Parents rushed to schools from their respective offices and homes in panic to get their children back home safely. Some of these students from different schools which received bomb threats said they had exams scheduled for the day.
“The email claimed that explosives had been planted on school premises. We received a call from the command centre and immediately rushed our teams to schools which are located in different parts of the city. All students and staff have been safely evacuated from the school premises and a thorough search operation was carried out,” another senior officer said.
Parents need not panic, our teams are on the ground, he said.
Earlier in the day, City Police Commissioner B Dayananda said, some schools in Bengaluru received threat emails. Bomb detection and disposal squads were sent to all these schools, and most likely it seemed to be a hoax.
“Earlier, also similar threat letters and emails had come to schools and they were found to be a hoax for mischief and police had identified those behind it. Police are verifying today’s mails too… officials and personnel have gone to all these spots. I appeal to people not to worry, as most likely all these are hoax calls (mails),” he said.
Last year also, some miscreants sent such emails claiming about a bomb threat to schools in Bengaluru, which later turned out to be a hoax message, police said.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he has asked police to seriously investigate the e-mail and its source, and provide adequate security to schools and temples as a precautionary measure.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar visited one of the schools which received the bomb threat. He took information from the school and the police about the situation.
“Some mischief mongers might have done this, in 24 hours we will nab them. Cyber crime police are active; they are doing their job… We should also be cautious and should not neglect,” he added.
PTI

Press Trust of India