Delhi CM’s Secretariat, two medical colleges get bomb threats

By afternoon, senior police officials confirmed that the bomb threats were a hoax.

Soon after the threat was reported, Bomb Detection and Disposal Teams were rushed to the Secretariat premises at IP Estate, and the medical colleges on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and in Shahdara.

All three compounds were secured, and thorough checks were initiated to rule out the presence of any suspicious objects. Officials said all precautionary measures were taken to ensure the safety of staff, students, and visitors present at the two sites.

DCP (Central district) Nidhin Valsan said senior officers, including the Additional DCP of Central district, ACP Kamla Market, and SHO of IP Estate, were present at the CM Secretariat, monitoring anti-sabotage checks.

At MAMC, the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operations) IP Estate was supervising the search operations.

The SHO of the central district cyber cell has begun examining the origin and authenticity of the email to ascertain whether it was a genuine threat or another hoax, said DCP Valsan.

“Preliminary assessment of the threat email shows similarity with previous such hoax emails, with indications that the message may have been intended for a location in another state. However, the mail is being treated with full seriousness and all SOPs are being meticulously followed,” said Valsan.

Other agencies, including the District Disaster Management Authority, the Traffic Police and the Special Cell, have also been roped in to support the response, said police.

Security officials emphasised that there is no immediate cause for panic and urged people to remain calm as checks continue. Authorities said further updates would be shared once the search and cyber investigation provide more clarity on the nature of the threat.

Last month, several schools received bomb threat emails. They were later declared a hoax.

Police had said the senders used a virtual private network (VPN) to send the emails and prevent authorities from tracking them.

Last year, too, Delhi saw a spate of cases involving bomb threats to schools, colleges, hospitals and even the Delhi Airport.

According to police records, only a few of last year’s cases were resolved, and so far, only one case has been solved this year. In some cases, police said students were allegedly behind the threats as they wanted to avoid an examination or for the school to shut down.