Chandigarh, February 11 Sixteen private schools in Mohali, Punjab, received bomb threat emails on Wednesday, triggering evacuations and prompting detailed anti-sabotage checks by the police, an official said.
No suspicious or explosive material was found at any of the locations after thorough inspections, the official said.
School authorities sent messages to parents, declaring a holiday. Students on their way to school were sent home, they said.
Manav Mangal School, Shivalik Public School, and Learning Paths School were among the schools that received the bomb threat emails.
The police said they took action after school authorities reported receiving the emails between 7:30 am and 8 am.
Security was increased at the targeted schools, and intensive searches were carried out, they said.
"Police teams, led by superintendents of police, deputy superintendents of police, and other officials, were rushed to the schools along with anti-sabotage teams and bomb disposal squads," said Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harmandeep Singh Hans to reporters.
Around 300 policemen were involved in the search operation, and all targeted schools were evacuated, he said.
The inspection of all schools was completed within about two-and-a-half hours with the support of additional force and specialized teams from neighboring districts of Fatehgarh Sahib, Rupnagar, and Chandigarh headquarters, Hans said.
"No explosive material was found at any of the locations," he added.
The search operations were supervised by SP City Dilpreet Singh, along with SPs Navneet Singh Mahal, Mohit Aggarwal, Sukhnaz Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Talwinder Singh Gill; DSP City-1 Prithvi Singh Chahal, DSP City-2 Harsimran Singh Bal and all station house officers.
Schools covered during the search included Amity School, Doon School, Learning Paths, Gurukul School, Vivek High School, Paragon School, YPS School, Lawrence School, and Gem Public School.
An FIR is being lodged, and the case has been referred to the Cyber Police Station, Phase-7, Mohali, to ascertain the origin of the threatening email and conduct an investigation, Hans said.
The latest scare comes close on the heels of similar threat incidents in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, and schools in Haryana, all of which turned out to be hoaxes.
