BJP seeks NIA probe into schools receiving bomb threats in Punjab

Chandigarh, Dec 15 (IANS) With 11 schools in Jalandhar city received bomb threat emails that led to panic as parents started gathering outside schools to pick their wards, BJP national General Secretary Tarun Chugh on Monday took exception to the manner in which a sense of terror is being spread among school children in Punjab by forces that the AAP government has failed to control.

Demanding an investigation by the NIA, Chugh said it appeared to be a deliberate and calculated design by subversive forces to intimidate children and their parents, reflecting the complete collapse of the law and order machinery in the border state.

He questioned whether the Bhagwant Mann government was playing into the hands of the ISI or had simply failed to control disruptive forces.

Chugh said the entire state already “knows that gangsters and mafias are enjoying a free run, spreading an atmosphere of terror and panic across the state. Everyone is aware of how bullets are fired almost daily and how extortion calls are made to paralyse every section of society”.

“But it is extremely alarming that school-going children are now being subjected to terrorism and panic at a time when the Bhagwant Mann government continues to make deceptive claims about improving standards of school education,” Chugh said in a statement.

Calling it an inhuman and criminal failure on the part of the Mann government, Chugh said the matter needs a thorough investigation.

A message from St Joseph’s Convent School to the parents after the threatening email read: “This is to inform you that the school has announced a half day today, December 15. The dispersal time for all students will be 11.55 am. Please do not pay attention to any rumours. The school premises have been thoroughly inspected by the authorities concerned, and no threat or danger has been detected.”

Responding to bomb threat emails, Commissioner of Police Dhanpreet Kaur said 11 schools have reported having received threatening emails. “So far, the emails do not seem genuine as they are in the same format. Our teams are checking their origin. These are on the same lines as received in Amritsar.”

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