More than 15 schools in Bengaluru received anonymous emails containing bomb threats, which caused panic among students, parents and school authorities.
Seven schools, including Napel and Vidyashilpa in Basaveshwar Nagar, were the targets of
the first wave of threats. One of the threatened schools is located opposite the residence of Karnataka’s Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar.
The emails received on Friday were sent from various addresses by masking the IP address of origin, police sources said.
Shortly afterwards, several more educational institutions received similar threats via email. Bengaluru Police evacuated students and staff from the schools as a safety precaution.
“We are encountering an unexpected situation at school today. The school has received a security threat from unknown sources. As we hold the safety of our children at utmost priority, we have decided to disperse the students immediately,” a message from the NEEV School to parents stated on Friday morning. “Kids are being sent home as per the advice of the bomb squad. We are evaluating the threat but for safety kids go home,” the school message said.
Despite indications that the bomb threats may be hoaxes, police are conducting thorough searches of the premises with the help of Bomb Disposal Squads. They have not yet confirmed the presence of any bombs at any of the schools.
Last year, many schools in Bengaluru received similar kinds of email threats, but they all turned out to be hoaxes.