Days after bomb threat emails were sent to 30 schools on December 13, the Delhi Police said they were able to trace one of the senders – a Class VII boy.
The police said that the boy is suspected to have sent emails to the school in Rohini to avoid writing the exams. He was found on Tuesday and released after counseling, police said.
“One of the emails sent to the school in Rohini was from a seventh grade boy. We were able to trace that because he was not using a VPN,” said DCP (Special Cell) Pratiksha Godara.
“The email was sent by this guy using a fake email he had created. He took the exam the next day, and wanted to avoid it,” said the officer.
In a similar case on December 13, the police had earlier said that another child had sent an email to the Paschim Vihar school. “The student was found after hours and it was found that he allegedly sent the e-mail… he did not want to write his exams and he sent the e-mail… He was counseled and then allowed to go,” said a senior official.
On Friday, four more schools received fake bomb threats via email, police said.
More than 100 schools in Delhi have received bomb threats in the past two weeks, all of which have been dismissed as false.
Most of the emails that were sent, from May to the last 10 days, used a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The police officer said, “It is impossible when emails are sent through a VPN to find the location; even if the location is determined, it will show several places, sometimes Sweden, the Netherlands, or any other country in Europe. Currently, India does not have its own VPN network so all these VPNs are used for emails located abroad. If India had its own VPN network, it would be bound by the country’s laws and information would have to be shared with law enforcement agencies. “
The first case of intimidation in schools and hospitals in Delhi was reported in May. Several other government installations, including the Tihar Jail and other departments of the Union Ministry, have also received bomb threats.
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