Bomb threat emails sent to dozens of Ahmedabad schools, cybercrime police launch probe

Panic gripped several schools across Ahmedabad on Wednesday after multiple educational institutions received emails threatening bomb blasts, prompting an immediate response from the city police and the Cyber Crime Police Station.

According to the Cyber Crime Police senior officials, the threat emails were received in the early hours of December 17 by schools located across different parts of the city. The messages warned of bomb blasts at 1.11 pm and contained references to politically sensitive issues, including the Khalistan referendum and prominent individuals, with the apparent intention of spreading fear and panic.

Police said the first alert was received through the control room, following which copies of the threatening emails were circulated to senior officers. Cyber crime officials immediately visited various schools mentioned in the emails and began verification and security checks in coordination with local police teams.

The emails were sent from multiple unknown email IDs, including munroquickelz800@hotmail.com,  mazielaubscher1612@hotmail.com, and santosg@atomicmail.io.

One such email was received by Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya in Memnagar at 8.33 am, while similar messages reached Satva Vikas School on Sindhubhavan Road and Anand Niketan School at Satellite within minutes of each other.

Investigators said the same threatening content was emailed to a large number of schools, including Zebar School, Zydus School, DAV International School, Riverside School, JG International School (Sola Road), Vedant International School (Isanpur), Shree Narayan Central School (Satellite), Asia English School, Prakash Higher Secondary School (Bodakdev), Nirman School (Vastrapur), St Kabir School, Eklavya School (Sarkhej), Sheth C N Vidyavihar (Ambawadi), Adani International School and Global Indian International School, Chandkheda, among others.

The subject line of the emails read “BOMB Blast @1:11PM”, and the content threatened explosions from schools to Sabarmati Central Jail. Police officials described the emails as “highly provocative” and said they appeared to be part of a pre-planned conspiracy to create alarm across the city.

Following receipt of the threats, police teams conducted thorough searches of the affected school premises. No suspicious objects were found, and the threats were later declared hoaxes. However, security was tightened, and school authorities were advised to remain vigilant.

Based on the complaint, the Cyber Crime Police Station has registered an FIR against unknown persons under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including sections related to criminal intimidation, conspiracy and public mischief, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

“The accused created fake identities and used multiple email IDs to send bomb threat mails to several schools simultaneously, with the intention of spreading fear among the public,” a senior cybercrime official said, adding that efforts are underway to trace the IP addresses and digital footprints of the senders.

Police said technical analysis of the emails is in progress, and assistance from central cyber agencies may be sought if required. Authorities have appealed to citizens not to panic and to rely only on official information.

The investigation is ongoing.