Bomb threat emails to schools continue

New Delhi: Several schools in Delhi received bomb threats through emails on Friday, marking the third such incident within a week and the sixth such incident in 11 days, said police.According to police, the threat was sent through a Gmail account by someone identifying himself as ‘Aiko764'. He claimed that bombs would detonate "within 48 hours if demands are not met". The sender demanded a sum of $50,000 in the email, which also mentioned that "this is your final warning".Schools affected were Delhi Public School in Dwarka, Cambridge School in Srinivaspuri, Indian Public School in Sadiq Nagar, among others, prompting immediate evacuation and security measures."We received a call regarding a bomb threat at DPS Dwarka, and teams were immediately dispatched," said a senior Delhi Fire Service official. The official said a thorough search by bomb detection teams and dog squads was held, but nothing suspicious was found.This adds to the recent spate of bomb threats that have been disrupting school hours. On Tuesday, schools received a mail demanding $100,000 along with a threat that bombs would detonate "within 72 hours", while on Monday in the same week, approximately 20 schools, including DPS RK Puram, received similar threat emails. A senior police officer said, "We have registered an FIR and our cyber teams are working to trace the origin of these threats. We are taking each threat seriously and following standard operating procedures."The series of threats began on December 9 when 44 schools received threatening emails, followed by similar incidents on December 13 affecting 30 schools, and December 14 targeting eight institutions. In the December 14 incident, the sender specifically mentioned the use of "bomb vests"."We are coordinating closely with educational institutions to ensure student safety while maintaining academic continuity," said a senior police officer, adding, "parents are understandably concerned, but we want to assure them that all necessary security measures are in place."