Date:04/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/04/stories/2008120459730300.htm

New Delhi

Day of hoax calls in Delhi

Staff Reporter

Panic, anxiety among the parents of school children

NEW DELHI: A series of hoax calls claiming that suspected terrorists had sneaked into schools in different parts of West Delhi set off panic among the parents of the school children on Wednesday.

In all, eight calls were made between 12-30 p.m. and 1-30 p.m. claiming that suspicious-looking persons, probably terrorists, had been seen entering the schools. The police immediately swung into action and teams were despatched for search operations.

However, none of the schools was vacated.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Delhi) Sharad Agarwal said the calls were made to the police. The schools were located in Uttam Nagar, Om Vihar Phase-I, Kakrola, Hastsaal and Vikaspuri. Among them were schools run by the State Government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Thorough searches of the school premises were carried out but the police did not come across any suspicious activities. Subsequently the calls were declared a hoax.

However, rumours about terrorists sneaking into schools resulted in panic-stricken parents rushing to the schools and frantically calling up the police to seek confirmation.

Unnerved parents of students of a school at Dwarka in South West Delhi also contacted the police to ascertain if any such incident had taken place.