Patiala

A private school in Patiala received a bomb threat email on Tuesday, prompting a thorough search of the premises by police and an anti-sabotage squad before the threat was declared a hoax, senior officials said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma said police teams rushed to the school in the Urban Estate area after being alerted by authorities. The campus was evacuated, security measures reinforced, and an extensive search conducted, but nothing suspicious was found.

“While the threat was reported by one school, a few others in the city sent students home as a precaution,” Sharma said, adding that there was no cause for panic. Investigations are underway to identify the sender of the email.

Cyber experts are examining the IP address, location, and device from which the email originated, he said.

READ MORE: Nirmal, my Abba's most trusted son

The incident follows a spate of similar bomb threat emails in Punjab, including eleven schools in Jalandhar on December 15 and several schools in Amritsar days earlier, all of which were later confirmed as hoaxes.