‘We take every call seriously… even if it turns out to be a hoax'

Indian Express

17-07-2025

Last year, when a private school in Outer Delhi's Paschim Vihar received a bomb threat in an email on December 20, around 20 personnel — including officers from the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) and the Bomb Detection Team (BDT), Delhi Fire Service, and even Cyber Police — were sent to the site. The threat turned out to be a hoax. It added to the list of similar emails sent to more than 200 schools in the Capital last year.
Each time, a batch of 20-22 personnel was sent to the site of the incident. 'Six to seven members of the BDS, six members with the BDT, six to seven members of the local police stations, the SHO of the Cyber Police station, and two members of the dog squad are sent to the site in such cases,' an officer explained.
Multiple instruments have to be used during such an operation — the Bomb Detection Team has to carry explosive vapour detectors, nonlinear junction detectors, and circuit detectors. All the surveillance devices are taken to the site in an ROV (remote operation vehicle). M-ION, a highly portable sniffer, and DSMD (Deep Search Metal Detectors) are used to scan through the whole vicinity.
'We take every bomb threat call seriously. Hence, personnel have to be mobilised even if it turns out to be a hoax. But it does put a lot of things on standby, and multiple teams have to be involved,' Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Devesh Chandra Srivastava told The Indian Express.
'We are also procuring advanced bomb detection and bomb disposal equipment and doing capacity building for our staff,' he added.
A senior police officer, who probed multiple hoax calls over the last year, highlighted the commitment of resources for such operations. 'We take all the children and the staff to the muster area outside the school and then search for the bombs. Since we didn't find any explosives in any of the cases, all our police personnel just remained on standby in the area till all the checks were made. For hours, we have to commit so many resources in a very small area of the district,' he said.
Local police stations also need to mobilise personnel as they manage the crowds. 'The SHO of the Cyber Police Station or an investigating officer is needed to scan through the emails, even when it's clear that the emails were sent using VPNs, and will be untraceable. Many times, advanced bomb detection tools and safety equipment are not available with every BDS squad. So personnel are also needed to get it from other districts if needed,' another senior police official said.
If an explosive is found, the National Security Guard (NSG) gets involved. Even as NSG personnel were not called in most of the calls made last year, police have to engage with the agency to expect a swift response in case any explosives are detected, a senior officer said.