Days after a bomb threat email was sent to multiple schools in Bengaluru, officials of the Bishop Cotton Girls’ school realised that they also had received a threat mail on April 8, and informed the police. As a precaution, police officials from the Cubbon Park police station and a bomb squad have been dispatched to the spot.
Speaking to TNM, DCP (central) MN Anucheth said, "The contents of the email are the same as the emails that were sent to other schools. The email was sent on April 8 but they saw it today (April 11). We have sent a bomb squad to check."
Police sources told TNM that apart from these schools, two others in Whitefield also received the same hoax email. However, the two schools learnt of it only the next day, by which time the police had established that the threat was not real.
The email — which the Bengaluru police said was a hoax — claimed that bombs had been placed on the schools’ premises. The police had also remarked that such calls have been made in the past as well, especially during exam time. Karnataka SSLC exams are currently being held in the state.
The hoax email had warned of a “powerful bomb” on the school premises. “Immediately call the police and sappers, hundreds of lives may suffer, including yours, do not delay, now everything is only in your hands,” the email said, adding that it was “not a joke.” Police officials along with sniffer dogs and bomb squads were rushed to the schools. Other schools, concerned for the safety of students, sent them home as a precautionary measure.
Hours later, a preliminary probe by the police found that the threat was prima facie a hoax, A Subramanyeswara Rao, Additional Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru East Zone said. “All the bomb threat emails have been sent from different email IDs. We have searched around eight schools so far, most of which are located in the eastern part of Bengaluru; it could be coincidental,” he said.