Airport, 8 Hospitals And Schools In Delhi Received Hoax Bomb Threats!

The Indira Gandhi International Airport and at least eight city hospitals on Sunday received bomb threats through email, on the lines of threats sent to over 200 schools in Delhi-NCR on May 1, with the threats turning out to be hoaxes, officials said.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport and at least eight city hospitals on Sunday received bomb threats through email, on the lines of threats sent to over 200 schools in Delhi-NCR on May 1, with the threats turning out to be hoaxes, officials said.

Among the first to report the threat was Burari Hospital in north Delhi, which called the police around 3.15pm. Similar complaints soon started pouring in from other hospitals, with GTB Hospital and Delhi State Cancer Institute (both located on the same premises) in Dilshad Garden reporting a threat around 3.30pm and Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri reporting it at 4.23pm

There were also similar threats to DDU Hospital, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital, Dada Dev Hospital and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital between 3pm and 6pm, police said. The email to the airport was reported at around 6.45pm. Police said the emails seemed to be a hoax since no suspicious device was found anywhere. “Checking is going on in all the hospitals. Patients were not evacuated. It was found to be a hoax. The mails were either sent to official mail IDs or medical superintendents. We haven’t identified the accused yet” an officer, who did not wish to be named, said.

The Burari Hospital was started in 2020 as a Covid-19 hospital, but has been pressed into general and other medical services since 2022. Deputy commissioner of police (north) Manoj Meena said, “An email was received by the hospital’s official email ID about a bomb threat. Local police, along with BDT (bomb detection team), were rushed there. Nothing was found.

DCP Meena said, “The information didn’t come from Hindu Rao and Aruna Asaf Ali. However, we searched over there also as their email addresses were mentioned in the email CC list. Nothing suspicious was found” However, the Burari Hospital was evacuated for the checks. Doctors, patients, staffers and visitors were asked to leave the premises. “Luckily, there were no patients on oxygen cylinder, under surgery or in the ICU. Everyone simply walked out and waited while a search was conducted for 1-2 hours. We couldn’t find anything,” an officer said.

DCP (west) Vichitra Veer said calls were received in the afternoon from DDU Hospital and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital. “Only a few people were evacuated. Checking was done room wise... there was no panic situation...” he said. DCP (outer) Jimmy Chiram said his teams, along with BDT, visited the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital and conducted a detailed search. “We couldn’t find anything and the email has been declared a hoax,” he said. The threat at GTB Hospital was also declared a hoax. DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said, “We received a call around 3.30pm from the hospital stating they received it on their official email ID. The accused threatened to blow up the place. We called the bomb disposal squad to the hospital and got a check done at GTB Hospital and Delhi State Cancer Institute. Nothing suspicious was found.”

Police said that a few staffers and visitors were told to leave the building while the BDT conducted a search. However, patients, especially those in surgery wards and ICU, were not asked to leave. Doctors also stayed inside. “The police teams and fire brigade had already started conducting a search. Additionally, it’s not easy for anyone to reach the ICU. So, no patient was moved from there. It was eventually declared a hoax,” an officer said, not wanting to be named.

A purported screenshot of the email shows that the threat was sent to 15-20 persons, including doctors, across Delhi hospitals. Police said a case will be registered and the matter will be investigated. “I have placed explosive devices inside of your building. They will explode in the following hours. This isn’t a threat; you have a few hours to disarm the bomb or else the blood of innocent people inside the building will be on your own hands. The group called ‘Court’ is behind this massacre (sic),” the alleged email, a copy of which was seen by HT, said.

Meanwhile, CISF officials at the Delhi airport received the threat email, police said, adding that the CISF handles the entire security detail of the Delhi airport. The mail was discovered at 6.45pm and it was sent “to create panic”, police said. Usha Rangnani, DCP (IGI Airport) said, “The security operations control centre at IGI Airport received a threat email concerning an explosive device within the premises. Enhanced security protocols are now in effect, and safety measures have been intensified. Legal action has been initiated. No suspicious items have been found, as of now.” An airport official said: “The mail came to CISF email ID and a bomb threat assessment committee at the airport started working on the matter. Delhi Police and fire brigade were called. However, the committee later found that the email was a hoax.”

Airport officials said the bomb threat assessment committee declared the email as “non-specific”. No passenger, visitor or staffer was evacuated. On May 2, multiple Delhi schools and schools in Noida received bomb threats mails from a Russian server. Police are yet to identify the suspect.

Even multiple schools in both Jaipur and Lucknow on Monday received bomb threats through threatening emails, causing panic among school authorities and students. As a precautionary measure, the schools swiftly evacuated students and staff from the premises.