After Delhi Schools, Now Hospitals and Airport Get Bomb Threats
Patients, hospital staff, airport personnel, travellers and law-enforcers were left in a tizzy.
Just a few days after false bomb threats rattled about 100 schools in India’s National Capital Region, numerous hospitals and the Indira Gandhi International Airport were subject to similar intimidation. However, just as in the case of the learning centres, these bomb scares too have been declared a hoax after concerned authorities swung into action and investigated the targeted locations.
The 8 addresses that came under threat on the afternoon of Sunday, May 12, included New Delhi’s GTB Hospital in the GTB Enclave. The staff there shared an anonymous e-mail that read as follows: “I have placed explosives inside the building. They will explode... this isn’t a threat. You have a few hours to defuse the bombs otherwise the blood of innocent people inside the building will be on your hands.” The Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) accessed a screen photo of the above missive.
Responding to the distress calls, law enforcement agencies deployed bomb disposal squads and security personal. Local staff members of the hospitals and the airport themselves joined in searching for explosive devices but none were found, as per DCP (North) M. K. Meena.
Authorities also studied CCTV footage while the cops are tracing the source of the threatening messages. Other major hospitals to have received such missives are Burari, Aruna Asif Ali, Dada Dev Hospitals and Hindu Rao Hospitals, the last of which said that Operation Theatres, Emergency Wards, CCUs and Blood Banks were on stand-by in the anticipation of any untoward incident. Though no one suffered any injuries, it looks like all persons concerned had quite a bitter pill to swallow.
