32 Delhi schools receive hoax bomb threats; over 70 institutions targeted so far this year
New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI): At least 32 schools in the national capital received bomb threats on Monday, triggering panic and prompting student evacuation, before officials declared them hoax.
Delhi Fire Services stated that between 7.30 am and 12.25 pm, they received calls from 32 schools informing about the threat e-mails.
Multiple teams of Delhi Police, including the bomb disposal squad and dog squad, were rushed to the campuses. A thorough search operation was carried out in each of the campuses before the police confirmed that the threats were fake.
"Search operation is completed and nothing suspicious was found," the officer said, adding that cyber forensic teams have begun work to trace the IP address of the sender.
According to the Delhi Fire Services, a majority of the schools were from the Dwarka area. These included Delhi Public School, BGS International Public School, Shri Venkateshwar School, Global School, Shiksha Bharti Global School, Adarsh World School, Dwarka International School, Bal Bharti Public School, Venkateshwar School, Paramount International School, CRPF Public School, Sachdeva Global School, Indraprasth International School, Saraswati Public School.
The other schools that received threat included Holy Heart Public School, Gyan Sagar Public School, Shiv Vani Model Senior Secondary School and Kennedy Public School -- all in Palam village; JBM Public School, Palam; Jai Bharti Public School and Deep Model Public School in West Sagarpur; RMS Convent School, Sagarpur; Veer Public School, Kapashera; Oxford Foundation School, Baba Haridas Nagar; Nav Gyandeep Public School, Dabari-Palam Road; RM Convent School, Kailash Puri Extension; RD International School, Daulatpur; CDM School, Dharampura; Sunrise Public School, Tajpur Khurd; Shri Ram International School, Najafgarh; New Solanki Model Public School, Jai Vihar, and Andhra School, Prasad Nagar.
DPS Dwarka later announced the closure of the school for the day.
In a statement, it said, "The school has been closed on Monday due to unavoidable circumstances. Students travelling by school buses and private vans are being sent back immediately, and teachers on bus duty will share the location updates. Parents are requested to kindly pick up their wards from their respective bus stops. For private commuters, parents are requested to collect their wards directly from the school."
According to police, several units, including cyber cell and special staff, are analysing the e-mail headers and other digital footprints to ascertain the origin of the messages. Investigators suspect the involvement of pranksters, but have not ruled out the possibility of organised attempts to disrupt normalcy.
"We are coordinating with service providers to trace the IP location and will examine whether the same source is behind earlier threats received by other institutions this year," another senior police officer said.
Between January and August, around 74 educational institutions -- 70 schools and four colleges -- across Delhi-NCR have received similar threats, according to police data.
On January 8 and 9, more than 10 schools, including DPS Vasant Vihar, Amity School in Saket, Salwan Public School and Modern School in Vasant Vihar were affected.
Less than a month later, on February 5, four Noida schools received threats via e-mail.
On February 7, three institutions -- Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Shiv Nadar School in Noida, and St Stephen’s College in Delhi -- were targeted.
On July 14, three schools -- Navy Children School in Chanakyapuri, CRPF School in Dwarka Sector 16, and CRPF School in Prashant Vihar -- received threats via e-mail.
A day later, on July 15, three more institutions were targeted -- St Thomas School in Dwarka, St Stephen’s College, and a school in Rohini.
Again on July 16, five schools received bomb threats via e-mail. These were St Thomas School in Dwarka, Vasant Valley School in Vasant Kunj, The Mother’s International School in Hauz Khas, Richmond Global School in Paschim Vihar, and Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in Lodhi Estate.
On July 18, more than 45 schools were targeted across Delhi, including those in Rohini, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar, South Delhi, and Central Delhi. In total, six schools in Dwarka reportedly received threats during July.
Additionally, three Delhi University colleges -- IP College for Women, Hindu College, and Shri Ram College of Commerce -- also received bomb threats.
On July 17, the Delhi Police apprehended a 12-year-old boy for sending bomb threat e-mails to St Stephen's College and St Thomas School in Dwarka on July 15. Police had detained the boy for questioning and released him after counselling.
Officials said that while all of these incidents were declared hoaxes after thorough inspection, every case was treated with full seriousness.
"Even if these are hoaxes, they cause panic among students and parents. We are pursuing every lead to identify and take strict action against those behind such acts," the officer added.
Police said investigations into earlier incidents are still underway, and they are exploring whether the repeated threats are part of a coordinated pattern.
Bharat Arora, President of the Action Committee of Unaided Private Recognised Schools, described the repeated bomb threats as "profoundly concerning".
"These threats cause significant disruptions to the academic schedule and instill fear and anxiety among students, their families, and educators," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
