Vasant Vihar Modern School, airport rocked by bomb hoax
BOARD EXAMINATION NOT INTERRUPTED BUT ANOTHER HOAX HOLDS UP A GORAKHPUR FLIGHT FOR 3 HOURS AT DELHI AIRPORT
NEW DELHI: Two bomb threat calls, half an hour apart, sparked panic at Delhi’s airport and a top private school on Thursday, but security officials called them hoaxes following thorough searches.
The first call was received around noon at neighbouring Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur airport, saying a Jet Airways flight headed there via Delhi had a bomb on board. Officials passed on the message from the purported VoIP call to authorities in the Capital.
“Flight number 9W 2647, which was to land in Gorakhpur, was suspected to be the target. The flight had taken off from Jaipur at 11.55 pm and landed in Delhi at 12.57 pm with 61 passengers and four crew members,” said Delhi airport’s deputy commissioner of police Dinesh Kumar Gupta.
The aircraft was held up for over three hours amid a series of checks while some of the travellers got off in the Capital. It took off at 3.18 pm with 59 passengers, Gupta said.
The second call was received by Vasant Vihar’s Moder n School at 12.30 pm when class 12 students were writing their board exams. An abandoned bag escalated the scare and police teams, bomb squads and fire officials were called in.
The school’s students and staff were evacuated after the caller said the bomb would go off soon, said sources. But, following a thorough scrutiny, authorities termed it a false alarm at 2.05pm.
“A bomb call was received regarding modern school vasant vihar,” deputy commissioner of police (south Delhi) Prem Nath tweeted at around 2.30 pm. “ACP & SHO with staff at school. All evacuated with help of teachers and students. Anti- sabotage check being undertaken to trace device if any.”
The school’s principal, Meenakshi Sahni, told HT that despite the security checks, the examination was not disrupted.
“We did not evacuate the classrooms and immediately informed police. They came with the bomb squad and examined the premises,” she said. “It was found to be a hoax call. The board examination was on.”