18 schools evacuated in Vadodara after coordinated bomb blast threat; police lodge FIR
According to the police, 14 schools in Vadodara city and at least four schools in the Vadodara district police jurisdiction received a facsimile email just as their sessions began.
After more than 18 schools in Vadodara city and district received emails threatening simultaneous bomb blasts Monday morning, the police and cybercrime units investigated the emails’ origin and lodged a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the case.
According to the police, 14 schools in Vadodara city and at least four schools within the Vadodara district police jurisdiction received a facsimile email Monday morning, a day before CBSE board examinations for classes 10 and 12 are set to begin.
In Vadodara, DR Amin School, Urmi School, Nalanda School, Baroda High School in Bagikhana, Navyug School, Jeevan Sadhna, Shanen School, Bright Day School, Atmiya Vidyalaya, Don Bosco Makarpura, Billabong, Auxilium Convent, Zenith School, American School, as well as Green Valley School, GPS and AWS Dabhoi received the bomb threats.
Following the threats, Narasimha Komar, Commissioner of Police, Vadodara City, visited Don Bosco School in Makarpura. Komar said an FIR had been registered, and an investigation launched to trace the source of the emails.
“We have completed the sanitisation of nine schools, and other school campuses are in progress. A criminal case has been lodged at the cybercrime police station. The Cyber crime police station, CERT-in (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), and I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre), along with other sister concern organisations, will launch an in-depth probe into the matter to trace the origin of the emails, the identity of the sender and their objective,” said Komar.
“We will make all attempts to thwart their further actions. We have received such emails in the past, and based on the content, it appears to be a mischievous act, but the police have taken the emails seriously. We have assured the school management and parents that we are making all attempts to ensure that their academic sessions and scheduled examinations go off smoothly.”
Most schools dismissed for the day, asking parents to collect their children from their respective schools.
Senior police officers said the email received at around 7 am in most schools on Monday, threatened that the bombs would go off at 1.11 pm. The email also threatened that bombs were planted in cars and school buses in the schools in Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
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Teams from the city police and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads were sent to conduct checks on campuses, with senior police officers saying that managing simultaneous checks across multiple premises was challenging.
“The emails of the bomb threat were received by the schools in succession around the same time. Cybercrime officials are examining the content, time, and origin of the emails. We have dispatched local police units to check for suspicious objects and cordon off the area. So far, no suspicious items have been found,” said a senior Vadodara city police officer.
Most schools dismissed for the day, asking parents to collect their children from their respective schools.
“The email had been sent to our office. The administrative staff noted the email after the school had just commenced… We informed the police and decided to disperse the students in the best interest. The parents were called, and we handed over their wards to them safely in order to avoid any untoward incident,” said a principal of a school in Vadodara city.
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
Most schools dismissed for the day, asking parents to collect their children from their respective schools.