Several Delhi hospitals get bomb threat emails, search operation underway

Several bomb hoaxes have been reported in recent weeks, coinciding with heightened security measures due to the ongoing elections

At least four hospitals in Delhi received bomb threat emails this morning. The hospitals affected include GTB Hospital, Dada Dev Hospital, Hedgewar Hospital, and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital.
 

The Fire Department stated that a search operation is currently underway.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have initiated a probe to trace the origin of the threat mail. Police teams have also been dispatched to the four hospitals in the national capital.

This incident follows a series of bomb hoaxes in recent weeks, coinciding with heightened security measures across the nation due to ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

On a previous occasion, on Sunday, 20 hospitals, the IGI airport, and the Northern Railways' CPRO office in Delhi had received bomb threats via emails. These threats were received from a Europe-based mailing service company named 'beeble.com'. The police are investigating the origins of the threats, particularly focusing on the sender ID "courtgroup03@beeble.com".

 

The threatening emails warned of explosive devices inside the buildings, with a demand to disarm them within a specified timeframe, failing which the responsibility for any casualties would lie with the institutions. 

“I have placed explosive devices inside your building. They will explode in the following hour. This isn't a threat, you have a few hours to disarm the bomb or else the blood of innocent people inside the building will be on your hands. The group called 'Court' is behind this massacre," the content of the letter read.

The Delhi Police suspects that the emails were sent using VPNs (virtual private network)  or proxy servers to conceal the sender's IP address. The Special Cell of the Delhi Police is likely to file an FIR and undertake further investigation.

Earlier, on May 1, over 150 schools in Delhi-NCR had received similar threat emails, which were later confirmed to be hoaxes. The origin of these emails was traced to Russia, with speculation that they were facilitated through the dark web.

In response to these incidents, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla conducted a review meeting with senior officials, stressing the importance of enhancing security measures in schools, including CCTV surveillance and regular monitoring of emails.

Regarding the recent bomb threats to hospitals, police received the first report from Burari Hospital at 3 pm on Sunday. Subsequently, complaints were received from several other hospitals across the city, prompting police investigations. However, no suspicious items were discovered during these searches.

The affected hospitals included prominent healthcare facilities such as Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal-3, Burari Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital, Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, and Dada Dev Hospital in Dabri, among others.

Police extended their searches to include additional hospitals that had also received threat emails, including Guru Nanak Dev Eye Hospital, Gramin Swasthya Prashikshan Sansthan in Najafgarh, and ILBS in Vasant Kunj.

Furthermore, the CPRO building located at State Entry Road in Connaught Place was inspected, but no suspicious items were found. Enhanced security measures were implemented at the IGI Airport following the threat email received at 6 pm.

(With agency inputs)