Bomb Threat Across 60 Schools in Bengaluru, Searches on; Email Likely a Hoax, Says Top Cop

Around 60 schools across Bengaluru city received an email early on Friday morning claiming there were “explosive devices on the school grounds”. Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda told News18 that prima facie it looks like a hoax mail, adding that police personnel have spanned across the city to check every school mentioned and secure them.

“A similar hoax email was received by 15 schools in 2022 claiming that explosives were planted on the school premises. Our teams are conducting a thorough search, but it looks like a case of mischief,” he told News18.

“There is no need to panic at all. This looks like a hoax, and we will ensure that Bengaluru is safe,” added the police commissioner.

School managements alerted the police, following which teams of sniffer dogs and Bomb Detection & Disposal Squad were sent to the schools that received the email threat. News agency ANI shared a video of bomb squad and dog squad inspection at a school in Anekal.

News18 has accessed the email that was received by all schools at 7:04am on December 1. It claims that the so-called act of planting explosives is in retaliation for those “who were martyred on November 26 (26/11)”.

The school managements immediately informed parents of students who had already arrived and asked them to take their children back home as the police conducted a complete search of the premises.

“We were told the school has been closed down after this incident and they asked us to take our child home until the investigation concludes,” said the parent of a student from a school in Hebbal which was among those that received the bomb threat.

A similar incident took place on April 8, 2022, where hoax threat emails were sent from various email ids to different Bengaluru schools, but across various timings — from 10:30am until 6pm. Police investigations did not find bombs on the premises and it was found to be a prank email. It was then declared a case of cyber terrorism, and the police found that multiple IP addresses were used to send the threat emails with the intent to cause panic.

Two months later, in July 2022, another hoax bomb threat mail was sent to National Hill View Public School in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Detailed investigations revealed that the emails were sent by a Class 10 student of the same school who wanted to get his upcoming tests postponed. The young student confessed to the crime and revealed that he had used his father’s laptop to send the email.

Another similar incident took place on January 6 this year where a private school in Bengaluru’s Rajajinagar received an email around 11:30am claiming a bomb had been planted on the school premises. Nearly 1,000 children were evacuated, and after conducting a thorough search operation, the police declared the premises safe and concluded it was a hoax.

As a precaution, other school managements have sent messages to parents in the city saying: “Dear Parent, Your ward is safe in school. We will be in touch if there is a need. Please do not worry. – Management.”