Shri Shikshayatan School, Mahadevi Birla, DPS Ruby Park, DAV School receive bomb threats

Panic gripped Kolkata on Monday after four prominent private schools received alarming bomb threat emails claiming that militants had planted explosives inside classrooms. The emails triggered an immediate police response, with bomb disposal squads conducting exhaustive searches across the affected campuses.

The schools that received the threat include Sri Shikshayatan School on Lord Sinha Road, Mahadevi Birla World Academy in Park Circus, DAV School in Taratala, and Delhi Public School (DPS) Ruby Park in Kasba. The emails claimed that the Brazilian government had been informed of two militants planting bombs designed to explode during class hours with the intention to cause mass casualties.

Authorities acted swiftly. All four schools alerted the Kolkata Police, which deployed bomb squads to conduct thorough checks from noon till late night. Thankfully, no explosives or suspicious items were found at any of the locations. Police have so far ruled out actual sabotage and are treating the threat as a hoax, possibly intended to spread fear and disruption.

Investigators are now focusing on identifying the origin of the emails and the person or group responsible for sending them. The authorities are exploring whether this was an isolated act or part of a larger pattern of school-targeted threats, especially considering similar hoax bomb threats were sent to nearly 200 schools across West Bengal in April 2024.

Such threats have previously targeted schools not only in Kolkata but also in major metros like Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Though none of those threats turned out to be real, the repeated nature of such incidents has left school authorities, students, and parents deeply unsettled.

With New Year preparations underway, these threatening emails have heightened anxiety among school staff and parents. Educational institutions are now under pressure to re-evaluate their emergency preparedness and enhance cyber monitoring to protect against such digital threats.