Kolkata Police on Tuesday issued a notice through their social media handles which said the emails received by some schools that warned of blasts in classrooms were a “hoax”.
The notice requested everyone to refrain from “spreading rumours” and panicking and assured guardians about the safety of the children.
The notice was issued a day after several city schools received an email which said a bomb had been planted in a classroom and it would explode the next morning.
Police had on Monday started a suo motu case against unknown persons.
“It has come to our attention that an email threatening the presence of bombs has been received by some schools in the city. We want to assure you that this email is a hoax and there is no credible threat to any school,” the notice issued by Kolkata Police read.
“A case has been started against the sender of such prank mail and investigation has started. We understand that receiving such messages can be distressing, but please remain calm and rest assured about the safety of students. In the meantime, we urge everyone to refrain from spreading rumours or panicking. We are also in touch with the schools for any help they need,” it added.
The notice also mentioned that similar emails were received by schools in Chennai and Bengaluru, too.
Several schools, including those that did not get the bomb threat email, received calls from parents on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Some schools tried to address the apprehensions of parents.
Calcutta International School (CIS) sent a note to parents early on Tuesday.
“With regard to the news this morning about schools receiving bomb threats via email, we would like to clarify that CIS has not received any such email. We have spoken to the Cyber Crime division who have confirmed that the email is a hoax,” said the note from CIS management.
“Nonetheless, to be cautious, we have initiated a thorough security sweep of the school premises which revealed nothing of concern....”
BDM International had received a threat email and informed the local police. “We wrote to the local police... and asked them to do the needful since it concerned students. A bomb squad visited the school on Monday and checked the building,” said principal Madhumita Sengupta.