E-mail bomb threat to school turns out to be hoax, thousands of children shifted to safety

BENGALURU: The National Hill View School in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, belonging to Congress leader D K Shivakumar, evacuated all its students early on Monday morning after the school authorities received a bomb threat on e-mail. After a one-and-half-hour search of both units of the school, it turned out to be a hoax.

The sniffer dog squad conducing a seach on the campus.

The school has about 4,000 students and worried parents flocked to the school to collect their wards. However, the school authorities had shifted all the children to another campus.

Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said the police reached the school immediately in receiving information along with sniffer dogs and a bomb disposal squad. All children have been shifted to safety and investigations are on, he said.

Police outside the campus.

The e-mail, sent from hackhavenlate@gmail.com, was signed off in the name of ‘Huccha Ventak’. The sender is believed to have used a VPN, making it difficult to trace the IP address. The e-mail, received at 6.28 pm on Sunday, claimed that bombs have been planted on the campus and in the school and were timed to go off at 10 am on Monday. The school authorities saw the e-mail at 8 am on Monday and informed the police immediately. They forwarded the e-mail to Aishwarya, daughter of Shivakumar, at 8.45 am.

At 10.10 am, the school authorities posted a WhatsApp message in the parents’ group that the children have been shifted and there was no cause for worry. The school also said the children will be sent home after 12 pm. The school will function as usual on Tuesday.

Congress leader D K Shivakumar’s daughter Aishwarya reassuring worried parents.

Aishwarya later spoke to the parents and assured them that the children are safe. She appealed to them not to panic, saying it would make things difficult for the school management.

Speaking to reporters at Vidhana Soudha, D K Shivakumar said, “The school authorities received a threat e-mail, but parents need not worry. The school is equipped with high security gadgets and all movements are recorded. After the school management informed us, all the children were safely shifted out and we spoke to the police commissioner. On Sunday, there was an exam and some outsiders had visited the campus, but parents need not worry.”