For the third time this month, bomb threat emails were sent out to several institutions in the capital on Tuesday morning — this time, to four Delhi hospitals. All turned out to be hoaxes, said Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officials. On Sunday, at least eight hospitals across Delhi and the Indira Gandhi International Airport had received a similar hoax bomb threat email, threatening to blow up their premises. On May 1, over 150 schools in Delhi-NCR got a similar message on their official IDs, prompting mass evacuations of schools. It was declared a hoax. According to DFS chief Atul Garg, the latest threats were sent to Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital in Ashok Vihar, Dada Dev Hospital in Dabri, Dr Hedgewar Hospital in Farsh Bazaar, and Delhi State Cancer Institute (DSCI) inside GTB Hospital. He said fire tenders were rushed to the hospitals, and bomb disposal squads were also deployed. Senior police officers said that after thorough checking, they were declared hoax threats. They said details of the email ID from which the mail was sent were being traced, and the Delhi Police Special Cell and the IFSO unit had also been informed. Earlier in the day, at Deep Chand Bandhu and DSCI, officials said the Delhi Police and a bomb squad were inspecting the premises. Deep Chand Bandhu received the mail on Monday night but hospital authorities saw it in the morning and immediately informed police. Outpatient department (OPD) registrations at both hospitals had been stopped, but the admitted patients were still inside, they said. “Once they clear the area, we will resume services,” said DSCI director Dr Vatsala Agarwal, who is also the medical superintendent at Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital. A senior medical officer at Dada Dev Hospital said nothing suspicious was found after an inspection by Delhi Police and a bomb squad team which came with a sniffer dog. “All services are running smoothly,” the official added. On Sunday, Burari Hospital; Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital; Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in Dilshad Garden; Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital in Hari Nagar; Dada Dev Hospital; Bara Hindu Rao Hospital; Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital in Civil Lines, and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital received hoax messages. Following the string of hoax bomb threats, security has been stepped up across the country in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
