by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Multiple schools in India's Delhi and nearby areas received a bomb threat via email on Wednesday, sending a panic wave among teachers, parents and security agencies, according to the Delhi Fire Service department.
More and more schools have come up with the same complaint, and the number was on the rise, according to a senior official of the fire service department, who confirmed the number as being over 80.
In response, the schools immediately contacted the parents to take their wards home, and panic-stricken parents rushed to the schools to bring back their children.
Pradeep Verma, a father of twins studying in the Delhi Public School in south Delhi's Vasant Vihar area, said he got a message from the school asking him to bring his children back to home.
"The news of some schools getting bomb threats spread like wild fire this morning. I got a message from my children's school and I brought them back. My kids' bags were kept in the school only for security check, and will be returned when they attend the school next," he told Xinhua.
"Just now I gathered that investigation by the local police revealed that it was a hoax call," he said.
Teams of Delhi Police's bomb squad carried out an extensive search in the schools and found nothing, said Deputy Commissioner of Police of Delhi's central district Devesh Kumar Mahla.
"Students have been evacuated and those premises are being searched by Delhi Police. So far nothing has been found in any of the schools," said Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena.
"We are in constant touch with the police and the schools. (We) would request parents and citizens not to panic. School authorities will be in touch with parents wherever needed," the official added.
Delhi Police has in an update said the bomb threat at schools seems to be a hoax and have asked people not to panic.
The home affairs ministry of the Indian government also said that the bomb threat appears to be a hoax call, adding Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps in response.
The identity of the sender of the threatening email is still being investigated, according to the police. ■
