Panic gripped Shimla in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday morning after three private schools received bomb threat emails, prompting immediate evacuations and a large-scale security operation.
The threats were later confirmed to be hoaxes, but the incident caused widespread concern among parents, students, and local authorities.
As soon as St Edward’s School, Sacred Heart School (Dhalli), and Saraswati Paradise School (Sanjauli) received the threatening messages, officials responded swiftly. Police teams, along with bomb disposal squads, were deployed to conduct thorough searches of the campuses.
Students and staff were safely evacuated, and access to the school premises was restricted until they were declared safe.
Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Tewari confirmed that schools in Shimla had received bomb threat emails, which triggered panic among students, parents, and staff.
“The State Police and State CID, along with bomb squads, sprang into immediate action and thoroughly investigated these threats. Fortunately, all of them turned out to be hoaxes. The State Police responded promptly to ensure the safety and security of students and staff. Detailed and extensive searches were conducted by the Bomb Disposal Teams, and no explosives or suspicious materials were found,” he said.
The police are now actively tracing the sender of these emails and are coordinating with counterparts in other states that have reported similar threats.
“We assure you that no stone will be left unturned in bringing the sender of these malicious emails to justice. Necessary criminal proceedings are underway. We remain committed to maintaining law and order and ensuring the safety of all citizens,” Tewari added.
The threats bore similarities to earlier incidents reported across the state over the past two weeks.
On July 9, similar hoax bomb threat emails were sent to district courts in Shimla, Kullu, Chamba, and Nahan, as well as to a school in Solan. All those threats were also found to be false alarms.
The investigation into the latest threats is now being led by cybercrime units, including the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
Officials suspect that the emails may have originated from the same source, possibly using digital masking tools such as VPNs to conceal their identity.
FIRs have been registered in multiple districts, and central and state cybercrime teams are working in tandem to trace the origin of the threats.
Authorities have urged the public not to panic or spread unverified information and have assured that all necessary steps are being taken to ensure safety.