Punjab: 16 private schools in Mohali receive bomb threat emails
Chandigarh (PTI): Sixteen private schools in Punjab's Mohali received bomb threat emails on Wednesday, triggering evacuation and prompting detailed anti-sabotage checks by police, an officer said.
No suspicious or explosive material was discovered at any of the locations after thorough inspections, the officer said.
School authorities sent messages to parents, declaring a holiday. Students on their way to school were sent back home, they said.
Manav Mangal School, Shivalik Public School, and Learning Paths School were among the schools which received the bomb threat emails.
The police said they swung into action after school authorities reported receiving the emails between 7.30 am and 8 am.
Security was mounted at the targeted schools, and intensive searches were carried out, they said.
"The police teams led by superintendents of police, deputy superintendents of police and other officials were rushed to the schools along with anti-sabotage teams and bomb disposal squads," Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harmandeep Singh Hans told reporters.
Around 300 policemen were involved in the search operation, and all targeted schools were evacuated, he said.
The checking of all schools was completed within about two-and-a-half hours with the support of additional force and specialised teams from neighbouring districts of Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar, and Chandigarh headquarters, Hans said.
"No explosive material was found at any of the locations," he added.
The search operations were supervised by SP City Dilpreet Singh, along with SPs Navneet Singh Mahal, Mohit Aggarwal, Sukhnaz Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Talwinder Singh Gill; DSP City-1 Prithvi Singh Chahal, DSP City-2 Harsimran Singh Bal and all station house officers.
Schools covered during the search included Amity School, Doon School, Learning Paths, Gurukul School, Vivek High School, Paragon School, YPS School, Lawrence School, and Gem Public School.
An FIR is being lodged, and the case has been referred to the Cyber Police Station, Phase-7, Mohali, to ascertain the origin of the threatening email and conduct an investigation, Hans said.
The latest scare comes close on the heels of similar threat incidents in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, and schools in Haryana, all of which turned out to be hoaxes.
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SC asks states to treat rising child trafficking cases as grave; seeks coordinated action
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has voiced grave concern over rising cases of child trafficking, saying gangs are operating across the country and if States and Union territories do not take immediate action, thing will go beyond control.
The court said only the state government and its home department can act vigilantly in this regard.
“As a court we can monitor, but ultimately the action has to be on the part of the state government, the police, and other agencies. Therefore, this is our humble request”, a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said during the hearing of a plea on Wednesday.
The bench was irked over the "lackadaisical" approach of several states and UTs in implementing a 2025 judgment aimed at dismantling organised trafficking networks.
Justice Viswanathan said the retrieval of children in some cases proves the problem can be tackled, but it requires a level of political and administrative will which is lacking at present.
The verdict, delivered on April 15, 2025, had mandated several institutional reforms, including completion of trials in trafficking cases within six months on a day-to-day basis.
It had also directed strengthening of Anti-Human Trafficking Units (AHTUs) and improving investigation standards.
Besides asking for setting up of state-level committees to monitor vulnerable trafficking hotspots, it had asked the authorities to treat missing children cases as trafficking unless proven otherwise.
Earlier, the bench had termed the compliance reports filed by a few states as "nothing but an eye wash."
On Wednesday, the bench noted that Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Odisha, and Punjab had still failed to file reports in the prescribed format.
When the home secretary of Madhya Pradesh offered an apology for the lapse, the bench granted a "final opportunity" but warned that continued failure would lead to states being officially branded as "defaulting".
The bench noted that at least 15 states are yet to constitute review committees mandated to identify and monitor trafficking-prone areas.
The matter will now be heard on April 29.
