‘Committed to legitimizing Afzal Guru’: Delhi Police’s big reveal in school bomb threat case

Last update:January 14, 2025, 3:32 pm EST

Police had previously arrested a student for his role in making bomb threats to at least 23 schools last week. The suspect comes from a family that cooperates with a non-governmental organization linked to a “specific political party.”

Last week, at least 17 schools became the latest targets of bomb threats. (PTI Image)

Delhi Police said on Tuesday that a private school student arrested for sending bomb threats to educational institutes had sent emails to over 400 schools. “The minor’s family is working with an NGO that has links with a particular political party,” said Madhup Tiwari, Special CP Act and Order, adding that the NGO was also involved in legitimizing Afzal Guru.

Notably, a grade 12 student of a private school was arrested for his alleged involvement in sending fake emails to hundreds of schools since last year. During the investigation, it was found that the detained student had sent threatening e-mails to schools to avoid taking school exams.

Commissioner Tiwari said on Tuesday that thousands of fake emails had been sent to several schools since February last year and police were making every effort to trace the sender. “The emails were sent in a very sophisticated way, including using a VPN. As a result, we had difficulty tracking emails,” he said.

Police received information about the juvenile suspect on January 8, and after his arrest, it was discovered that he had sent fake threatening emails to over 400 schools. “We suspected anti-national or sabotage reasons. When we profiled the minor’s family as part of the investigation, we discovered that one of his parents was associated with an organization that had deep ties to the NGO. Our preliminary information shows that this NGO has deep links with a specific political party,” Tiwari said.

Tiwari also said the suspect was involved in sending fake emails to over 250 schools on May 1 last year and other incidents. “This is a preliminary investigation. Further investigation is yet to be conducted,” Tiwari said.

On Thursday last week, the suspect sent fake emails to 23 schools. Police determined that the user had sent them via Gmail, which helped track him down. The student later confessed that the emails were sent by him and several other students using a VPN.

The big reveal came after the Delhi Police came under fire for its inability to stop bomb threats against schools and the deteriorating law and order situation in the city. Prime Minister Atishi, former Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Prime Minister Manish Sisodia slammed the Delhi Police and the Center over repeated bomb threats that disrupted classes.

At least 40 schools in Delhi, including DPS RK Puram and GD Goenka School in Paschim Vihar, received bomb threat emails on December 9 last year in which the sender demanded a ransom of $30,000. Similar e-mails were sent to over 30 schools on December 13 and 14.