Uttar Pradesh: After Jaipur, three schools in Lucknow receive bomb threat, probe underway

Image Source : PTI (FILE IMAGE) A dog squad rushed to the spot

At least three schools in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow received bomb threats via email on Monday (May 13), creating a wave of panic among school authorities and children. While an investigation has already been initiated in the case, following the threat emails, authorities informed that students were promptly evacuated and sent home with their parents.

The authorities informed, "After receiving information, police teams and bomb disposal squad reached the schools and started investigations."

Meanwhile, the schools that received the bomb threat emails include Vibgyor High School, the LPS PGI branch, and St. Mary's School.

Further, it is pertinent to note that the Lucknow bomb threats news came hours after four other schools in Rajasthan's Jaipur received similar emails.

In the Jaipur case, police confirmed that while the probe is on to nab the sender, no casualties have been reported so far. "An information was received on bomb threat and the school has been sanitized...Till now only one school (Vidya Ashram) has received bomb threats...Till now we have found nothing," Jaipur Police Sub Inspector Prakash Kumar said.

Significantly, not only schools in Jaipur and Lucknow but also several other places including hospitals and airports received bomb threat emails recently. Earlier, on May 1, over 150 schools in Delhi-NCR received an identical threat email claiming that explosives had been planted on their premises, triggering massive evacuations and searches as panic-stricken parents rushed to pick up their children.

“Nothing objectionable” was found during searches by authorities, which later declared it a hoax. The Delhi Police's anti-terror unit special cell has 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.

Moreover, emails threatening blasts were also sent to at least 36 Ahmedabad-based schools on the eve of the voting May 7. According to the police, the emails were traced to Pakistan.