11 schools in Punjab's Jalandhar receive bomb threats; students sent home

Eleven schools in Jalandhar received bomb threat emails on Monday. This led to panic as parents started gathering outside schools to pick their wards.

The three schools which first reported the threat were St Joseph's Convent School, IVY World School and Sanskriti KMV School.

Later, eight other schools also reported having got similar threats.

The school authorities shared the details of the emails with the police, who immediately started the search operation. The schools were closed around noon.

To avoid panic, the school authorities did not share details with the children till they left the school. The schools apprised parents of the early closure by messaging them on WhatsApp.

A message from St Joseph's Convent School to the parents read, “This is to inform you that the school has announced a half day today, December 15. The dispersal time for all students will be 11.55 am. Please do not pay attention to any rumours. The school premises have been thoroughly inspected by the authorities concerned, and no threat or danger has been detected.

“As a precautionary measure, we are sending the children home early. All school buses and vans will operate as usual. Parents who pick up their children personally may come comfortably at the scheduled time. Your children are safe with us."

At 1 pm, Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal and Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur said, “There is no need to panic. So far 11 schools have reported having received threatening emails. Our cybercrime teams have registered an FIR. So far, the emails do not seem genuine as they are in the same format. Our teams are checking their origin. These are on the same lines as received in Amritsar.”

Dhanpreet Kaur said, "Our police teams reached the schools as soon as we started getting information around 10 am. Bomb sabotage teams have been pressed into service. We have got additional teams from the PAP complex as a precautionary measure."