Several schools in Ahmedabad get bomb threat emails; security upped

AHMEDABAD: At least 28 schools in Ahmedabad and Vadodara received bomb threat emails on Monday, triggering evacuations and large-scale security checks, officials said.Search operations were launched immediately, and nothing suspicious has been found so far, they added.More than 15 schools in Ahmedabad received the emails, district education officer Rohit Chaudhary said. "All the schools were instructed to immediately inform the nearby police stations and follow security protocol," he told reporters. In Vadodara, police commissioner Narasimha Komar said 13 schools across different localities received similar threats. School managements alerted the police control room, after which local police, Special Operations Group (SOG), Crime Branch and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS) personnel carried out sanitisation drives and evacuated students and staff. "Sanitisation exercise of nine schools has been completed, and the process is underway for the remaining schools. A case has been registered by the cybercrime police. A detailed investigation will be carried out to find out the source of the emails and the sender's identity, and to thwart their attempt," Komar said. Prima facie, the emails appear to be mischievous, but police will probe them with all seriousness, he added. Vadodara deputy commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Verma said nothing suspicious was found and students from the affected schools were sent home. The targeted institutions include DAV International School, Asia School, Ankur International School and Sant Kabir School in Ahmedabad, and D R Amin School, Urmi School, Baroda High School and Don Bosco in Vadodara, police said. On January 23, several schools in Ahmedabad had received similar bomb threat emails, which later turned out to be a hoax.