Apeejay School in Jalandhar received a bomb threat email today (Thursday) following which the school administration immediately declared a holiday and sent students back home as a precautionary measure and this latest incident comes at a time when Punjab is already on high alert after a recent explosion involving an LED device inside an Activa scooter near BSF Chowk in Jalandhar so security concerns already rising in the city and today’s threat has further intensified fear among residents and authorities.
According to initial information the threatening email claimed that the school premises would be blown up and the email was reportedly received by the school administration during school hours and as soon as the matter came to light the management informed the concerned departments and began evacuating students from the campus to avoid any possible risk.
The school located near BMC Chowk was dismissed after news of the threat spread and parents rushed to pick up their children while police teams and administrative officials reached the spot to assess the situation and immediately after the security around the school was also tightened immediately.
Police officials stated that investigation teams are currently examining the email and trying to trace its origin and bomb disposal squads and security personnel also checked the campus and surrounding areas however till now no suspicious object or explosive material has been recovered from the school premises.
Authorities have appealed to the public not to panic and said that every threat is being taken seriously and officials are also trying to determine whether the email is connected to previous threat cases reported in Punjab over the past few months as this is not the first time schools in Jalandhar have received such threatening emails as earlier this year on March 2 several major schools in the city reportedly received bomb threat emails and the schools that were targeted included Apeejay School, Police DAV School, Delhi Public School, MS School, SDA School, CJS Public School and Cambridge International School.
According to reports those emails were allegedly sent in the name of a Khalistani outfit called “Punjab hul Khalistan” and the message warned about explosions at 1:11 PM and also mentioned names such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as targets and back then also security agencies had launched a probe after the threats surfaced.
Another similar case was reported on March 16 when schools including Apeejay School and Delhi Public School allegedly received threatening emails warning about blasts at different locations across Punjab and the email reportedly mentioned schools in Jalandhar, the Punjab Assembly and even Delhi-bound trains and it was also claimed that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was among the targets mentioned in the message.
The earlier emails also reportedly contained references to Khalistan related slogans and demands prompting security agencies to increase surveillance and launch cyber investigations to trace the senders and with repeated threat emails now targeting educational institutions in Jalandhar concerns over student safety and public security continue to grow however police officials have assured that strict action will be taken against those responsible and investigations into today’s threat are ongoing.
