Foreign link found in school bomb threat emails across Gujarat: Police

Ahmedabad: City police investigations into the recent spate of bomb threat emails sent to schools across Gujarat have revealed a suspected foreign link, with cyber forensics indicating coordinated activity from outside India. All the threats, which triggered evacuations and widespread panic, later turned out to be hoaxes.Senior officers from the city crime branch and cybercrime cell said digital footprints traced during the probe point to a group operating from foreign locations. "The intent was to disrupt peace, hamper school activities and create panic among students and parents. Initial technical analysis suggests coordinated activity routed through overseas servers," a senior police officer said. Central agencies have been alerted, and technical evidence was being further examined to identify the origin and individuals involved.
The threats had targeted dozens of schools across districts over the past few days, prompting large-scale search operations by local police and bomb detection squads. Amid rising concern, the Gujarat govt convened a high-level meeting and decided to frame standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure a uniform and calibrated response to such threats. Sources in the home department said the SOP would be modelled on airport threat response systems, allowing institutions to continue functioning while security checks are carried out in a structured manner."It is likely that schools will not be shut down automatically as is happening now. Premises will be sanitised and threats verified without disrupting academic activity unless a credible risk is found," a senior official said.The move assumes urgency as the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board prepares to conduct the Class 10 and 12 board examinations, with lakhs of students set to appear across the state. Authorities have intensified security arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of exams.A video conference involving the principal secretary, home; top police officials and district education officers was held to review preparedness and emergency protocols. Officials discussed response strategies in case threats are received during examination hours, stressing the need to avoid panic and ensure minimal disruption.Schools that received repeated threat emails will be provided enhanced police presence. Police officers maintained that while the threats appear aimed at spreading fear rather than causing actual harm, strict vigilance will continue to ensure examinations are conducted peacefully and without inconvenience to students.M A Pandya, chairman of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, said the issue was discussed as part of a broader law and order review. "We also included the issue of the school bomb threats, for which foolproof bandobust will be done along with CCTVs and close vigil, due to which no untoward incident will take place," Pandya said.