Six Delhi Schools Targeted In Fresh Bomb Threats: Repeated Scares, Is This A ‘New Normal’?

School Bomb Threat News: Panic struck sections of the national capital on Thursday morning when six schools received bomb threats by e-mail, leading to huge search and evacuation operations. This is the third such episode in Delhi schools this week, parents, students, and officials are worried.

Between 6:35 AM and 7:48 AM, Delhi Fire Services claimed the threat calls and e-mails were reported. Targeted schools were Andhra School, Prasad Nagar, BGS International School, Rao Man Singh School, Convent School, Max Fort School, and Indraprastha International School in Dwarka. In minutes, police, fire departments, and bomb disposal teams were dispatched to the campuses.

Morning school timings became a picture of pandemonium as anxious parents descended upon campuses to pick up their kids. A number of students, some of them very young, were spotted exiting classrooms in terror after forced evacuations. “My daughter was trembling and weeping. Despite officials informing us that it could be a hoax, as a parent you can’t suppress your anxieties,” averred a mother outside a Dwarka school.

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A Pattern of Threats for Delhi schools: New normal?

The new episode is preceded by two similar terror scares earlier this week. On Monday, 32 Delhi schools had received the same bomb threat e-mails. Only a day after, close to 50 more schools were threatened, all of which were hoaxes. Authorities confirmed that the e-mails are from the same outfit calling itself ‘Terrorizers 111.’

Police reported that threatening letters, received late Tuesday evening, called for $2,000 in cryptocurrency to avert suspected bomb explosions. The letters further stated that “C4 bombs and timed charges” had been positioned in classrooms, auditoriums, staff lounges, and even on school buses.

Despite no explosives being detected yet, Delhi Police is taking the issue seriously. “We cannot afford to take risks when children are involved. Every procedure is being adhered to and cyber units are monitoring the source of these emails,” a top police officer said.

Experts in cybersecurity feel the threats are just a part of a bigger extortion racket where fear is used to compel schools and authorities to pay cryptocurrency. 

Delhi schools threats: Increasing Fears among Parents

This is not the first time Delhi and Bengaluru schools have been threatened in this manner. Various institutions had to be subjected to emergency evacuation in the past month, much to the distress of parents and children. “Even if these prove to be hoaxes, the trauma for children is real,” said a parent.

Police have increased their cyber investigations into what the e-mails say and to make sure schools have better protections. At the same time, educational officials are asking parents not to panic, but instead be watchful. 

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