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Delhi airport, at least eight city hospitals receive bomb threats

The incident comes nearly two weeks after 150 schools in Delhi-NCR received similar threats on their email IDs

Burari hospitalBurari Hospital received bomb threat mail today. (File Photo)

Nearly two weeks after over 150 schools in Delhi-NCR received bomb threat emails on their official IDs — sparking panic and mass evacuations before it was declared a hoax — the Delhi Airport and at least eight hospitals received similar threats on Sunday, said officials.

Police and bomb disposal squads were rushed to Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport after receiving a phone call at 6.20 pm. Authorities said nothing suspicious has been found so far.

Teams were also deployed at the city hospitals, including Burari Hospital and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, which received the bomb threats through email on Sunday afternoon.

The other hospitals were Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in Dilshad Garden, Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital in Hari Nagar, Dada Dev Hospital in Dabri, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital in Civil Lines, and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital.

DCP (North) Manoj Meena said, “A hospital in North Delhi’s Burari received an email with a bomb threat. Bomb disposal teams are at the spot. Nothing suspicious has been found.”

DCP (Dwarka) Ankit Singh confirmed a PCR call was received at Dabri Police Station and police and hospital staff checked the premises of Dada Dev Hospital, adding nothing suspicious was found.

DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Chowdhary said police received a PCR call around 3.30 pm regarding a bomb hoax mail at GTB Hospital.

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He said, “Hospital authorities informed the local police about that mail. Immediately, police swung into action and dispatched the Bomb Disposal Squad to the hospital. Checking was done at GTB Hospital and Delhi State Cancer Institute, which is situated on the premises of the GTB Hospital. Nothing suspicious was found.”

Dr Rajat Jhamb from the GTB Hospital told PTI, “We received a bomb threat via email simultaneously with other hospitals, but there was no panic situation at the hospital.”

Burari Hospital MD Dr Ashish Goyal received the threat around 3 pm. “I have access to the hospital email on my phone. The email said a bomb had been placed in the hospital. I informed the police as soon as I saw it and it appeared to be a hoax. Police are investigating the matter,” he said.

Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital received a threat email around 3 pm, according to officials.

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“Soon after the call, we immediately sent two fire engines to both locations. Our teams are still there as the search operation is on,” said an official from the Delhi Fire Services (DFS).

The MCD-run Hindu Rao Hospital is on high alert with directions given to increase security checks at night, a civic body statement said.

“The operation theatre, emergency, CCU and blood bank at the hospital are equipped for any adverse event. It is on high alert for QRT activation. Hospital staff have also been asked to be vigilant,” it read.

Colonel Harish Chandra Sharma from the Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital said, “Things were under control, there was no panic or disturbances due to the threat. The hospital management handled it with full responsibility, so everything is fine.”

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Dr SK Kaakran, Medical Superintendent at Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, said he saw the mail around 4pm and contacted Delhi Police. “We responded quickly and conducted a search operation on the campus,” he added.

In the school case, the Delhi Police’s anti-terror unit special cell traced the domain of emails to Russia and it is suspected to have been formed with the help of the dark web — an encrypted online content that allows individuals to hide their identity and location from others.

According to the FIR filed in the case, several calls of bomb threats were received from different schools between 5.47 am and 1.13 pm on May 1.

“School authorities said they had received these bomb threats on their email IDs… on receipt of the calls, PCR vehicles were rushed to the schools, district police, bomb disposal squad… were also alerted,” the FIR said. It added that an elaborate exercise was carried out across the city in safely evacuating schools and carrying out anti-sabotage checks.

(with PTI inputs)

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