As a precaution, some schools decided to evacuate students and staff immediately. Officials reported that the email contained a similar message to previous threats, so the city was on high alert.
Panic spread in Chandigarh when multiple schools were again a target of new bomb threat emails which required immediate responses from police and bomb squads.
Private schools threatened: Vivek High School, St John’s School, Carmel Convent School, Delhi Public School, Shivalik Public School, Banyan Tree School, Chitkara International School, Ankur Public School-14, Kundan Public School, AKSIPS-45, Gurukul (Manimajra) and 3BRD Airforce School.
Government schools threatened are in Sectors 8, 10, 16 and Dadumajra.
The threat email not only mentioned that bombs would go off in schools, but also at the Secretariat building. When the police control room got the email in the evening, the security of all the institutions was beefed up. Policemen, including bomb disposal teams and fire brigade personnel, reached there immediately.
The email subject ‘Chandigarh School Bomb Blast’ mentioned that Chandigarh is from Khalistan and warned about bomb blast said to every people save your child gave specific time to blast in school 1:11 pm. also mentioned about “justice hardeep Singh nijjer” also given specific timings to blast In School Chandigarh (1:11 pm) Punjab Secretariat (3:11 pm) and threatened that the whole city school blasts in the next two days. Canada ref also included and Khalistan National Army name with a few signs.
As a precaution, some schools decided to evacuate students and staff immediately. Officials reported that the email contained a similar message to previous threats, so the city was on high alert.
Exam centers were affected too, where exams were stopped midway at many places. A few schools later conducted the exams after the bomb disposal squad and fire brigade gave a clearance after a thorough search and declared them ‘all clear’. Police guards are posted outside such schools which have been cleared.
Security agencies are investigating the new emails and assessing how similar they are to those from January. Officials are advising the public and parents to stay untroubled and trust only official reports.
Similar scare on January 28
This news arrives shortly after a serious false alarm that shook the city on January 28th, when many schools in Chandigarh got bomb threat emails and were subsequently evacuated. Bomb disposal, dog squads, and quick response teams were sent to all schools.
Local news estimated that over two dozen schools were brought to a standstill, causing mass hysteria throughout the city.
By evening, the police confirmed that no suspicious items were found and they began a cyber forensics investigation to locate the email sender.
Who is Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Indo-Canadian Sikh activist who, in 2020, Indian authorities had designated a terrorist, alleging links to the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and involvement in other separatist activities, was shot dead on June 18, 2023, outside a gurdwara in Surrey. His killing set off a major diplomatic spat between Canada and India after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” of a possible link to Indian agents, a charge India vehemently denied.
