30 DELHI SCHOOLS RECEIVE HOAX BOMB THREATS

Nothing suspicious was found in any of the schools after the searches

30 Delhi schools received bomb threats over e-mail in the early hours of Friday, triggering a multi-agency search of their premises, officials said.

Nothing suspicious was found in any of the schools after the searches, they added.

The latest threats come close on the heels of at least 44 schools receiving similar e-mails on December 9. Police had declared those threats as hoaxes.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police has registered a case of criminal intimidation and conspiracy but it is yet to get any lead on the culprits.

In May, more than 250 schools, hospitals and other installations had received similar e-mail threats, which are yet to be solved.

Reacting to the development, former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal pointed out that it was the second such instance within a week and wondered how these bomb threats would affect the children.

A Delhi Fire Services official said, "We received calls (regarding the threat e-mails) from the Bhatnagar International School in Paschim Vihar (4:21 am), Cambridge School in Srinivaspuri (6:23 am) and DPS Amar Colony in East of Kailash (6:35 am)." ""(Calls were also received) from the South Delhi Public School in Defence Colony (7:57 am), Delhi Police Public School in Safdarjung (8:02 am) and Venkateshwar Global School in Rohini (8:30 am)," he added.

The fire department, police and bomb-detection teams, along with dog squads, rushed to the schools and conducted thorough checking, the official said.