28 schools in Ahmedabad, Vadodara get bomb threat; searches underway

At least 28 schools in Ahmedabad and Vadodara in Gujarat received bomb threat emails on Monday, following which the campuses were evacuated, officials said.

Search operations were immediately undertaken, they said, adding that nothing suspicious has been found so far.

More than 15 schools in Ahmedabad received bomb threat emails, District Education Officer Rohit Chaudhary said.

"All the schools were instructed to immediately inform the nearby police stations and follow security protocol," he told reporters.

Vadodara Police Commissioner Narasimha Komar said as many as 13 schools in different localities of the city received bomb threat emails.

The managements of these schools informed the police control room. Subsequently, the local police, Special Operations Group (SOG), Crime Branch and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS) personnel carried out a sanitisation exercise and evacuation of students and teachers, he said.

"Sanitisation exercise of nine schools has been completed, and the process is underway for the remaining schools. A case has been registered by the cybercrime police. A detailed investigation will be carried out to find out the source of the emails and the sender's identity, and to thwart their attempt, " Komar said.

Prima facie, such emails are mischievous, but the police will probe them with all seriousness, he added.

Vadodara's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Himanshu Verma said nothing suspicious was found so far, and students from the affected schools were sent back home.

The institutions that were targeted include DAV International School, Asia School, Ankur International School, Sant Kabir School in Ahmedabad, and D R Amin School, Urmi School, Baroda High School, and Don Bosco in Vadodara, according to police.

On January 23, several schools in Ahmedabad received similar emails of bomb threats, which later turned out to be a hoax.