‘Very scary’: Delhi HC seeks action plan to deal with bomb threats to schools

NEW DELHI: Describing the four hoax bomb threats to different schools in the city as “very scary”, Delhi High Court on Monday sought from the authorities an action plan to deal with the same.
It asked the AAP-led Delhi government and the city police to ensure the safety and security of children, teachers, staff and other stakeholders. “At least find out how these threats are happening, this never used to happen earlier,” justice Prathiba M Singh remarked while asking Delhi Police to explain the steps it was taking in response to the four hoax threats.
The HC also asked the police to file a specific report in respect of bomb threats received by Delhi Public School, Mathura Road on April 27.
It also made school associations, including the Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools, a party to the petition and said the association may place on record its suggestions, listing the matter for further hearing on July 31.
On Monday, TOI reported that advocate Arpit Bhargava moved court raising concern over a string of bomb threats to schools due to which parents, students and school staff were traumatised.
Bhargava said, in the plea, that he was aggrieved by the lackadaisical approach of the Delhi government and police in dealing with the bomb threat emails.
According to the plea, the authorities have failed to avoid the recurrence of such threats leading to “extreme trauma, stress, harassment, inconvenience and fear” in the minds of all, including the petitioner whose child is a student of DPS, where one such threat was received.
The petition sought a detailed action plan and its implementation by the authorities. “The action plan is in relation to dealing with such repeated incidents of bomb threats in schools across Delhi and to prepare for regular evacuation drills and such other exercises to be undertaken for the safety and security of the children studying in schools who are ill-equipped to deal with such disasters,” the plea said.
It also sought a direction to the government and police to identify the culprits, fix accountability and take action against them in a time-bound manner so the regular functioning of schools.