'Give $30,000 or...': Over 40 Delhi schools receive bomb threat

Over 40 schools in Indian capital New Delhi received a bomb threat by email on Monday demanding $30,000 which led to the authorities to send the children home and shut the institutions.

After checking all Delhi schools, the police declared the threat a bomb hoax. Delhi Police PRO Sanjay Tyagi assured that the department is ensuring the security of all schools and children and will make every possible effort to continue doing it. "We will soon reach the source of the email and take action against it," he said.

DPS RK Puram and GD Goenka School in Paschim Vihar were among the 44 schools that received a threat, prompting action. Students were sent back home, while the police were informed.

According to a copy of the email accessed by NDTV, the email was sent at 11:38 on Sunday night. The email claimed that multiple bombs had been planted inside the buildings. "The bombs are small and hidden very well," the email read.

The sender demanded $30,000 to defuse bombs. "It will not cause very much damage to the building, but many people will be injured when the bombs detonate. You all deserve to suffer and lose limbs," the sender wrote.

The Delhi Police is investigating the IP address and looking for the sender of the email.

The alert came in between the morning commotion - school buses arriving, parents dropping their children off, and staff preparing for the morning assembly. The Delhi Fire Department received the first call from GD Goenka School at 6:15 am followed by another call from DPS RK Puram at 7:06 am.

The fire officials, including the dog squad, bomb detection teams, and local police reached the schools and conducted the search operation. So far, nothing suspicious has been found, a police official said.

Disappointed with the law and order situation in the national capital, Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked Home Minister Amit Shah for answers. In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr Kejriwal wrote, "The people of Delhi have never seen such a bad state of law and order in Delhi before. Amit Shah ji should come and answer the people of Delhi."

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi too questioned the BJP-ruled central government over the rise in cases of murder, ransom, firing and bomb threats in Delhi. "The law and order situation in Delhi has never been so bad before. The BJP-ruled central government has failed in its only task of providing security to the people of Delhi…," she wrote.