BREAKING: Home Ministry Office in North Block on Alert After Receiving Bomb Threat

New Delhi: After recent threats targeting Delhi schools and the airport, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) received a bomb threat via mail on Wednesday noon. “A bomb threat mail was received from the Police Control Room at the North Block, New Delhi area. Two fire tenders have been sent to the spot. Further details awaited”, said Delhi Fire Service. Searches are on and, as of now, nothing suspicious has been found.    

The incident is the latest in a series of hoax bomb emails sent to schools, airports, hospitals, and jails throughout the national capital. 

A few days ago, four hospitals in Delhi received bomb threat calls. Earlier, nearly 150 schools were targeted with similar threats from a Russia-based mailing service on May 1, leading to widespread evacuations and searches.

On Sunday, 20 hospitals, including the IGI Airport and the Northern Railways' CPRO office in Delhi, received threat emails. Authorities later declared both incidents as hoaxes.  

The Delhi Police had stated that the hoax bomb threats are believed to have originated from Budapest. They plan to contact Hungarian authorities for further investigation. An officer involved revealed that the threat was sent from the email ID ‘sawariim@mail.ru’, which is linked to a Russian domain.

“It’s likely the IP addresses may be associated with a VPN and establishing the person’s connectivity will be a challenge. We will seek Interpol’s help by sending it a Demi Official (DO) letter, seeking the details of the person who signed up for the email address,” an officer had stated.

On May 6, the Union Home Ministry stressed on the importance of developing detailed protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling such situations. The Home Secretary instructed the Delhi Police and schools to work closely together to prevent unnecessary panic caused by misinformation. 

Additionally, the ministry underlined the need to enhance security measures, including the installation of CCTV cameras and regular monitoring of emails in schools.