Bomb Hoax at Hundreds of Delhi Area Schools Wednesday Sparks Panic, Conspiracy Concerns

An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard in front of the Parliament house in New Delhi. Ravi Raveendran/AFP via Getty Images

NEW DELHI—Schools across India’s Delhi National Capital Region were evacuated on Wednesday morning after receiving emails warning them about bombs on their premises. According to an Asia News International (ANI) report, an initial probe suggests a conspiracy to create chaos and disrupt daily life in the capital.

Around 200 schools received the threatening emails. Police and parents rushed to schools. However, a massive search operation did not uncover any explosive devices.

“Some schools of Delhi received E-mails regarding bomb threats. Delhi Police has conducted thorough check of all such schools as per protocol. Nothing objectionable has been found. It appears that these calls seem to be hoax,” the Delhi Police said on X on Wednesday.

Security was also tightened around the Indian parliament in the capital, where India’s National Security Guards (NSG), India’s premier counter-terrorism unit, was seen carrying out drills on Wednesday.

Heightened Security

Due to security concerns, the NSG conducted drills at the Israeli embassy on Wednesday as well.

The day after the bomb threats, the Delhi Police conducted “mock drills” at various locations, according to a message the department shared on X. It asked citizens to cooperate and not panic.

A further threatening email was received on Thursday at a school in Delhi; however, the email was traced to a teenage boy, police said on Friday.

The First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Delhi Police concerning Wednesday’s incident said that the emails were sent to the schools with the “conspiratorial intention of creating mass panic” and “to disturb the public.”

Newspapers reported low attendance in schools Friday, along with tightened security.

Russian Server Possibly Involved

Citing Delhi police sources, ANI reported that the hoax emails appear to have originated from a Russian email service, mail.ru. The domain is owned by VK, a Russian technology company that until 2021 was known as VK group.

Indian law enforcement is contacting VK for more information. Meanwhile, the Delhi police has already written to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which connects Indian law enforcement with overseas law enforcement via Interpol.

A Gmail ID was also used for a threat received Wednesday afternoon, and investigators have contacted Google for details.

Meanwhile, authorities worked to control further panic on social media after an audio message circulated on WhatsApp and other chat groups claiming that some “suspicious objects” were actually found in schools.

The Delhi Police denied the rumors and requested that the public not spread them, in another message on X.

“We appreciate the cooperation and patience of the school administration and parents during the investigation of the bomb calls received in some schools of the capital today. All the calls have been found to be completely false. Everyone is requested not to belive any rumour related to this nor spread it further,” the message said.

Military Experts Suspect Foreign Involvement

Military experts told The Epoch Times that given the scope of the bomb hoax, foreign involvement is possible.

“Given the past experience of such panic-creating emails, involvement of cybercriminal groups of [China] and/or ISI cannot be ruled out. This is how actual wars will be preceded by information warfare. It’s one rehearsal,” Shekhar Sinha, a former chief of India’s Integrated Defense Staff, told The Epoch Times.

ISI is the inter services intelligence agency of Pakistan.

Mr. Sinha also cautioned that the matter is still under investigation by all cyber security agencies of the country.

“Whereas it is difficult to point fingers at any country or organization, two things need attention. [The] first is to tighten security around vital points and vital areas apart from educational institutions. Second, conduct thorough search to detect [the] presence of any explosives around those vital areas and vital points and educational institutions,” he said.

Vinayak Bhat, an Indian military intelligence veteran, stressed the importance of reflecting calmly and taking appropriate action.

“We can’t take the threats lightly either because one wrong step and it will invite disaster. Savdhani Hati Aur Durghatana Ghati [accidents happen when we stop being vigilant],” Mr. Bhat told The Epoch Times.

Given China’s adversarial stance toward India, he said he believes China could be involved in the incident.

“China does in fact wishes to fight a war with India because she wants to test their capabilities against us before the PLA [People’s Liberation Army] takes on the USA. That would give PLA a chance to test their technology, military hardware and logistics,” he said, adding that Pakistan obviously would like to take advantage of the situation.

Mr. Bhat said the question of interest for everyone concerned is who is behind acts that would target children.

“The ones who can think of using children as targets are only few in the world today. And in our neighborhood they are only two—China and Pakistan. Both want to annihilate India for their own reasons and benefits,” he said.