Bomb threat emails to 18 Nagpur schools draw NIA, ATS attention; cyber probe goes global

Nagpur : The investigation into a series of bomb threat emails sent to 18 prominent CBSE schools and the Nagpur District Collector’s office has widened, with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) stepping in to assess the case from a national security perspective.

The threatening emails, which warned of bomb blasts and claimed the threat would remain active until August 31, have prompted heightened security measures across the city and intensified efforts to identify those behind the scare.

According to police, Delhi Public School was the first institution to receive the email at around 9.45 am on Tuesday. Similar messages were then sent to 17 other schools at intervals of 10 to 15 minutes. Among the recipients were Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Centre Point School.

Police teams, along with the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS), rushed to the campuses and carried out exhaustive searches. No explosives or suspicious objects were found at any of the locations.

The Cyber Police have launched a forensic investigation into the emails. Preliminary analysis of the digital trail revealed that two emails appeared to originate through servers linked to Bangladesh, while another was traced to France via VPN routing.

Investigators are now trying to determine whether the emails were genuinely sent from abroad or if the foreign locations were used as a cover through virtual private networks (VPNs) to conceal the sender’s identity.

A criminal case has been registered, and cyber experts are examining metadata, VPN logs and other digital footprints to trace the origin of the messages and establish the motive behind them.

With the threatening emails reportedly containing a reference to the RSS, Central security agencies have taken serious note of the incident.

Sources said both the ATS and NIA have sought details of the ongoing investigation from the Nagpur Cyber Police and are evaluating the case to determine whether it has any wider security implications or links to organised groups operating beyond the state.

Police have intensified security arrangements around all the schools that received the threats. Surprise inspections are being conducted regularly, and school managements have been instructed to follow enhanced security protocols.

Since the emails specifically mentioned August 31 as the period during which the threat would remain valid, police have also issued a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to educational institutions, outlining emergency response measures and precautionary steps.

The bomb scare has created anxiety among parents and students across the city. Several parents chose not to send their children to school on Wednesday, leading to a noticeable drop in attendance at many institutions.

Investigators continue to analyse the email trail and other technical evidence as efforts intensify to identify the individual or group responsible for triggering one of the city’s biggest coordinated bomb threat scares in recent years.

Source: Nagpur Today