n Bomb squads were put through a test as threat loomed over 131 schools in Delhi and adjoining region of Noida as bomb threats were received by school authorities on Wednesday morning. The Delhi Police had to rush their dog and bomb squads to more than 100 schools which received a bomb threat via e-mail, originating from Russia.
As schools took various safety measures to ensure the safety of the students, the city police too went into an overdrive after their emergency phone started ringing from 6 am with bomb threat reports, a situation that lasted till 3 pm. Some schools even made a PCR call without receiving a threat as panic gripped the national capital.
Senior police officers with dog and bomb squads had to rush from one school to another and there was no time to be wasted. "Every district has its own one bomb squad and one dog squad. If needed, we take help from other districts. But today the situation was totally different as all the schools of Delhi in different 15 districts received bomb threats through e-mail," a senior police officer said.
Another senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said that they did face a bit of a problem in moving the dog and bomb squad immediately, but they managed the situation. "There are almost 20 members in the dog and bomb quad. We divided those members according to the call. We also directed them to make no hurry," said the officer.
In light of the event and being prepared for any uncertain future circumstances, some schools said they plan to issue a circular for parents, outlining the standard operating procedure to guide them on how to react in adverse situations like these.While the school tried to evacuate the students swiftly, many younger kids started crying, sensing panic in the atmosphere, with blaring sirens of fire-tenders and sniffer dogs being pressed into service to conduct a thorough check of their schools in light of the email being originated from Russia. Parents rushed to the schools to ensure the safety of their children as soon as the school authorities informed them via messages and circulars.
Authorities swung into action by sending fire tenders, ambulances, and police vans to be on stand-by outside schools and bomb detection and disposal squads searching inside. As per reports, about eight schools in Southwest Delhi, three in North Delhi, 18 in South Delhi, 21 in West Delhi, one in North East Delhi, 24 in East Delhi, 21 in West Delhi and 16 in Outer Delhi received these threats among others. Delhi Police Public School of Wazirabad, Mother’s Marry Senior Secondary School of Mayur Vihar, DPS International of Saket, Sanskriti School of Chanakyapuri, Don Bosco School of CR Park and DAV Public School of Paschim Vihar were some of the prominent schools that received the threat via an email early morning.
