Ludhiana: Premises of four schools in the city were evacuated after a bomb threat was received via e-mail around 9.14am on Wednesday. The mail warned parents against sending their children to school on April 24, the day of the blackout drill, and threatened a bomb blast at 1.11pm. It also mentioned explosions at railway tracks in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Ferozepur at 8.11pm.School authorities contacted the local police and sent students home on school buses and with parents. To prevent panic, they did not share threat details with parents, informing them that the schools would remain closed due to “unavoidable circumstances.”The schools that received the threat were Spring Dale Public School, Sherpur Road; DAV Public School, BRS Nagar; Manav Rachna International School; and Podar International School, police said. Principals confirmed that the schools would reopen on Friday, but classes would be conducted online as a precaution. Students and teachers were informed about the online class schedule in the evening.Avinash Kaur Walia, chairperson of Spring Dale Public School, said evacuation was initiated immediately after the mail was received. J K Sidhu, principal of DAV Public School, BRS Nagar, said this was the second time the school had received such a threat. He added that nine schools in the city had received similar e-mails in March this year. “The school followed all safety protocols and informed the police. After inspection, no suspicious material was found,” he said.Concerned over repeated incidents, parents demanded strict action against those responsible.A parent, who did not wish to be named said, “My son is in Class V. As soon as I learnt about the threat, I was extremely scared and could only relax once he returned home safely on the school bus. The situation was distressing for our family, but later the school informed us about online classes for Thursday.”Another parent, said the incident had caused anxiety among students, teachers and parents. Referring to similar threats received in March 2026, he said authorities must trace the IP addresses of those behind the e-mails and ensure such incidents did not recur. Police action Police constituted multiple teams search premises of schools Police commissioner Swapan Sharma said they deployed five teams in affected schools Teams, including dog and bomb disposal squads, conducted checks A police officer said students were made to assemble in playgrounds during checking According to the police, unscrupulous elements were trying to create panic by sending such mails —
