Delhi Police seeks Russian assistance in school bomb threat investigation
In an effort to trace the origins of recent bomb threat emails sent to over 200 schools in Delhi-NCR, the Delhi Police is preparing a judicial request for assistance from Russia. The Times of India reported that this Letter Rogatory (LR) aims to gather information about the email ID used to send these threats. The police have initiated contact with Moscow's National Central Bureau (NCB) and Russian email service provider Mail.ru via Interpol.
Bomb threat emails spark panic, investigation underway
Earlier this week, more than 200 schools in Delhi-NCR received similar bomb threat e-mails. The threatening emails caused widespread panic among students and parents, leading to extensive evacuations and searches across the schools. However, no actual bombs were discovered, prompting authorities to label the situation as a mass hoax. A formal complaint has been lodged at the Special Cell Police Station under IPC sections related to inciting hatred, anonymous criminal intimidation, and criminal conspiracy punishment.
Previous hoax traced to Austria, current investigation faces challenges
During the investigations, the police found that a similar hoax threat was sent to a south Delhi school in 2023 using Mail.ru. Russian authorities, responding to an LR then, traced the IP address back to Austria, indicating the sender used a virtual private network (VPN) to conceal their location. Similar to the situation in 2023, tracking the IP address and sender's details could be difficult if a VPN or proxy server were used, a cybersecurity expert warned.
Delhi Police collaborate with Interpol and other agencies
The Delhi Police have also reached out to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for information about the threatening emails through Interpol channels. The CBI is expected to forward this information to Interpol for distribution among all member law enforcement agencies globally. Investigators are also working closely with Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) and other agencies including Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) in their quest to solve this case.
