The Delhi Police have made significant strides in their investigation into the bomb threat emails that rattled around 150 schools in the Delhi-NCR region earlier this month. According to officials, the IP address of these emails has been traced to Budapest, Hungary, prompting the authorities to collaborate with their counterparts in Hungary for further investigation.
These threatening emails, purportedly sent from a mail.ru server, claimed the presence of explosives on school premises, leading to widespread panic and the evacuation of schools on May 1. However, subsequent searches yielded no evidence of explosives, and the threats were hoaxes.
In response to the situation, the Delhi Police filed an FIR and contacted the mailing service company mail.ru, based in Russia, through Interpol. They are currently investigating the IP address used to send the emails, as well as the identity of the sender and the origin of the emails, to unravel the conspiracy behind the bomb hoax.
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Officials suspect a deeper conspiracy may be at play, potentially orchestrated by a terrorist group during the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. There are concerns that the threat emails may be linked to an ISIS module, further heightening the urgency of the investigation.
The discovery that the IP address traces back to Budapest adds a new dimension to the case, prompting Delhi Police to seek assistance from Hungarian authorities. An IP address serves as a unique identifier for devices connected to the internet, and the police are working diligently to piece together the puzzle surrounding these threatening emails.
On May 12, Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and over half a dozen Government hospitals in Delhi received bomb threats through email. According to Delhi Police, IGI Airport received a bomb threat through email from an unidentified account on Sunday afternoon. The sender threatened the presence of an explosive device inside the premises.
Similar emails were received at two government hospitals, Burari Government Hospital and Mangolpuri’s Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, on Sunday afternoon. The Delhi Police has launched a probe into the matter.
On May 6, nearly six schools in Ahmedabad received bomb threats via email. Promptly, the State Police launched an investigation into the matter, reassuring the public and emphasising the importance of maintaining calm, especially with the upcoming polling day.
These incidents follow a series of bomb threats targeting over 131 schools in Delhi earlier on May 1. Despite the alarming nature of these threats, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) swiftly responded by issuing a statement dismissing the emails as hoaxes. The ministry assured that all possible steps were taken to address the situation.
Authorities from the Delhi Police‘s anti-terror unit particular cell linked the emails’ domain to Russia, suspecting it was created using the dark web, an encrypted online platform known for concealing users’ identities and locations. According to authorities, the threatening emails originated from “sawariim@mail.ru.” The use of the Arabic word “sawarim” in the email address has raised concerns, given its association with propaganda material used by the Islamic State (IS) in recent years.
