At least 100 schools receive bomb threats in Delhi NCR, found nothing after checks, say police
New Delhi/Noida (PTI): At least 100 schools in the Delhi-NCR area received bomb threats through emails on Wednesday leading to chaos and widespread alarm but “nothing objectionable” was found, officials said, requesting people not to panic.
The schools were evacuated after local police were informed about the threat emails.
According to Delhi Fire Service (DFS), at least 97 calls from different schools have been received till 12 noon on Wednesday. All the calls are being attended diligently, an officer said.
Multiple private schools in Noida and Greater Noida also received the bomb threat.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said it appears to be a hoax threat and that there was no need to panic.
Delhi Police said it has conducted a thorough check of all schools that received the bomb threat but found nothing.
“Some schools of Delhi received emails regarding bomb threats. Delhi Police has conducted thorough check of all such schools as per protocol,” Delhi Police said in a post on X.
“Nothing objectionable has been found. It appears that these calls seem to be hoax. We request the public not to panic and maintain peace,” it said.
According to Delhi police officials, the email is suspected to have been sent from one source to schools in Delhi and adjoining Noida and Greater Noida.
Sources said the content of the mail to every school is the same.
The Union Home Ministry termed the bomb threat as a "hoax" and asked people not to panic.
Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol, the ministry said.
"There is no need to panic. Mails appear to be hoax. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol," a home ministry official said.
Noida Police said all such schools that received the emails were thoroughly checked and the bomb threat was found to be a hoax, Additional Commissioner of Police (law and order) Shivhari Meena said.
"This morning a threatening email was received by a chain of schools after which police teams responded to the situation immediately," Additional CP Meena said.
"All such schools that received the threats were thoroughly checked and sanitised. At no place any such thing (threat) has come to light and it is proved that the email was sent to trigger a rumour," he said.
Reacting to the development, Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena wrote on X that he spoke to the police commissioner and sought a detailed report into the bomb threats at schools in Delhi-NCR.
"Directed Delhi Police to carry out a thorough search in school premises, identify the culprits and ensure there are no lapses," he said, requesting parents not to panic and cooperate with the administration in ensuring safety of schools and the children.
"The miscreants and culprits will not be spared," he added.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi also requested parents not to panic and wrote on X, "Some schools have received bomb threats this morning. Students have been evacuated and those premises are being searched by Delhi Police. So far nothing has been found in any of the schools.
“We are in constant touch with the police and the schools. Would request parents and citizens not to panic. School authorities will be in touch with parents wherever needed,” Atishi said.
Visuals from Mayur Vihar's Mother's Mary school showed concerned parents assembling outside the school to pick their children.
The school administration was seen making announcements on the microphone while parents rushed to collect their wards.
"I dropped my child 10-15 minutes ago. Then I received a call from the school to take my child back due to some emergency," Vijay Kumar, a parent, said.
"I had come to drop my children. I saw a lot of people had gathered here and there were shouts of people coming from inside the school. When we inquired, we didn't get any satisfactory response," Manoj Kumar, a local resident and parent of a student studying in the school said.
Similar visuals were seen outside Chanakyapuri's Sanskriti School where parents were seen rushing to pick their wards.
Fire tenders, ambulances and lines of police vehicles were seen on stand-by outside the schools, while bomb detection teams and bomb disposal squads were conducting searches inside the schools.
Kirti, another parent, said she dropped her son at BGS International School, Dwarka, and was waiting outside for him to go inside when she saw him return back with school staff.
"As usual I was waiting outside of the school when I saw my son returning back along with all the staff members. I was very worried… When some people shouted that there was a bomb in school, I immediately asked my son to sit on my scooter," she said.
Several schools called and sent messages to parents to urgently pick their wards from the school.
In Noida too, bomb disposal squads, sniffer dogs were rushed to the schools which received the threat. Overall security was beefed up in the twin cities as a precautionary measure.
The threat was sent to branches of Delhi Public School (DPS) in Noida and Greater Noida, and some other schools via emails by an anonymous sender, Noida police officials said.
Other schools that did not receive bomb threats were also flooded with queries by parents and guardians who were worried about their wards' safety.
According to police officials, initial investigations suggest that mails have been sent to multiple locations since Tuesday which appears to have the same pattern.
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CISF takes over Parliament security from CRPF following December 13 security breach
New Delhi: More than 3,300 CISF personnel took over the complete counterterrorism and anti-sabotage security duties at the Parliament complex on Monday following the withdrawal of over 1,400 CRPF staff from the country's most important symbol of democracy, official sources said.
The parliament duty group (PDG) of the CRPF wound up its entire administrative and operational paraphernalia -- vehicles, weapons and commandos -- from the complex on Friday, and its commander, a deputy inspector general (DIG)-rank officer, handed over all the security points in the complex to the incoming CISF group, the sources said.
A total of 3,317 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were inducted for securing both the old and new Parliament buildings and the associated structures in this complex located in central Delhi after the government directed it to take over the task from the CRPF following the December 13 security breach incident of last year, a senior officer told PTI.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour on December 13, 2023, released yellow smoke from canisters, and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs.
Outside the Parliament premises around the same time that day, two other persons sprayed coloured smoke from canisters while shouting slogans.
Following this incident, a committee under the chairmanship of CRPF DG was set up to look into the overall security issues of the Parliament complex and make suitable recommendations.
The CISF counterterrorism security unit took full charge of the Parliament complex from 6 am on Monday, May 20, the officer said, requesting anonymity.
It deployed its staff to guard all the flap entry gates of the complex, posted canine squads, firefighting personnel along with fire tenders, manpower at CCTV monitoring control room and communication centre apart from the pass section, watch towers apart from specialists to undertake anti-sabotage checks and other operations at the Parliament complex, he said.
With this, the CRPF PDG, Delhi Police (about 150 personnel), and the parliament security staff (PSS) who jointly secured the Parliament till now, stood withdrawn, a senior CISF officer said.
He said the CISF personnel had been undertaking familiarisation exercises of the complex for the last 10 days and the men and women personnel of the force who will man reception areas have been given light blue full-sleeved shirts and brown pants apart from safari suits as their new uniform.
The first officer quoted above added that the PDG unit is expected to be merged with the six battalion strong VIP security wing of the CRPF, while the PSS staff could be tasked afresh for rendering security and protocol duties at other central government installations.
Some PSS staff could be retained for manning the lobbies of the house for marshal duties but a final decision is yet to be taken, he said.
The CISF contingent, according to sources, was deployed on a temporary manner called the 'internal security duty pattern' and it is expected that it will be granted a full-fledged sanction as new government assumes office after the ongoing general elections, sources said.
The CISF personnel were imparted refresher training in baggage screening, personal frisking, bomb detection and disposal, quick reaction terrorist counter, sniper task and public interaction and courtesy before being sent for the Parliament duty.
They also trained recently with the 'black cat' commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) who were air-dropped from an IAF helicopter on the new Parliament complex to simulate a terrorist attack, the sources said.
A CRPF officer said PDG troops who left the Parliament complex on May 17 clicked selfies and took photographs as a token of remembrance of "efficiently" guarding the country's highest temple of democracy.
"During the 2001 terrorist attack, CRPF personnel showed extreme bravery along with personnel from other agencies to defeat the dastardly assault with one personnel laying down her life in the line of duty while some others receiving gallantry medals and in 2023 they were not responsible for the breach that took place."
"The PDG personnel felt sad that they had to surrender this duty despite giving their best," the CRPF officer said.
