Bomb hoax mail hits pvt schools in Chennai, leaves parents & police on toes

CHENNAI: An email threatening the possible presence of bombs received at 13 private schools in Chennai in the morning kept the police and parents on tenterhooks on Thursday. The mail was a hoax, police said and added that cyber sleuths are hunting for the person who had sent the mail.

The city police had sent sniffer dogs and bomb squad personnel to conduct checks at the schools. Some of the areas where the schools are located are Mannady, JJ Nagar, Anna Nagar, Gopalapuram, Nandambakkam, and Royapettah, the police said.

"All the emails originated from a single email ID and the cyber crime police have been brought in to trace and identify the person (s) behind this," said Prem Anand Sinha, Additional Commissioner of Police (South), Chennai at a press meet held at the Chennai City Police Commissioner office on Thursday afternoon.

He said that the "email service" through which the threats were sent was a "problematic" one as it makes it difficult to trace the sender.

The email read, if the school authorities do not take immediate action regarding the bombs, they would explode soon. There were no demands by the sender, he added.

As soon as we received the information from the schools, we sent teams of police personnel along with sniffer dogs and personnel from the Bomb Detection and Disposal (BDDS) squads to the schools, he said.

As per the press release, a case has been registered with the Cyber Crime Wing of the city police and an "intensive investigation" is underway to nab the person who sent the email.

"Therefore, on behalf of the Greater Chennai Police, the students, parents, and the school management are advised not to panic," the press release said.

While some schools sent the children home during the checks, others gathered the students on the school grounds.