2nd bomb threat in week puts Mohali on high alert

Mohali: An email threatening to blow up a private hospital — where chief minister Bhagwant Mann is undergoing treatment — and several nearby schools triggered a high-alert response in Mohali on Tuesday, though authorities chose not to evacuate schools as board exams were underway.Mohali deputy commissioner Komal Mittal said, "The email was taken very seriously as this time we faced 2 important events – CM admission to private hospital and schoolchildren undergoing board examinations. As the previous two threats were hoaxes, this time we decided to first get the check done, then go for school evacuations. As the email turned out to be a hoax, schools were not evacuated."
This time too, around 15 to 16 private schools and two govt schools received the bomb threat email, the DC said. A similar email was sent to 18 schools in the district on Feb 11.The threat message prompted an immediate security response from Punjab Police and other security agencies. In view of CM's presence at the private hospital, security was significantly tightened and the entire area was placed under high alert as a precautionary measure.The threat was reportedly issued in the name of the so-called ‘Khalistan National Army', cops said. Officials indicated that similar threat messages were received in the past in Mohali and Chandigarh, which later turned out to be hoaxes.Mohali SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans said despite the possibility of the threat being non-credible, the police are not taking any chances. Bomb disposal squads and sniffer dog teams were deployed at the hospital premises and adjoining educational institutions.SP Dilpreet Singh said a thorough search operation is being carried out to rule out any potential danger. "This time also the email generation IP address is of US as spoofed mail, and the recovery email originated from Bangladesh. Today's mail is a copy-paste mail of the previous email mentioning 16 schools and 2 govt schools," said SP Dilpreet.SP Dilpreet said that cyber teams are also examining the source of the threat message to trace those responsible. DSP Harsimran Singh Bal urged the public to remain calm and avoid spreading rumours while the investigation is underway. Though a section of parents rushed to the schools after hearing about "bomb threat", the police assured parents of children's safety as proper protocol was established, said DSP Bal.