Police

A WhatsApp message threatening a bomb blast on March 5 in a Kendriya Vidyalaya school in Vadodara has been traced to a Class X student, who allegedly “developed cold feet” before the CBSE Board exams, the Vadodara city Cyber Crime Police station said on Friday.

Police said that the Child in Conflict with Law (CCL) had allegedly sent out the text message in Arabic to the Whatsapp number of a teacher, “with the intention to postpone the exam”.

However, the Vadodara city police conducted a search of the premises on that day and the examination went ahead as scheduled in the best interest of the students, a senior police officer told this newspaper.

No explosives or suspicious objects were found in the search.

The Cyber Crime Police station said that the message was sent to the phone of the teacher in the early hours on March 5, from an unknown international number.

The police, with help of technical analysis, tracked the number down to the CCL.

“The message was sent with the intention to create an atmosphere of fear and tension among the school staff, students and citizens of Vadodara,” a statement issued by the Cyber Crime Police station said on Friday.

The Vadodara Cyber Crime Police Station, on Friday, also issued an advisory for parents stating that any person –  including juveniles – would be put through the process of law in place for sending threat messages to spread fear and panic.

The police also advised parents to keep a watch on and guide the children on the judicious use of email applications, social media and online platforms.

The police also advised parents to explain the law in place and the responsibility of citizens to their children.

This is the second incident of a bomb threat message being traced to a student.

Earlier, on February 16, hours after 40 schools in Gujarat, including around 19 in Vadodara, received hoax bomb threats, a separate and lone threat email to a private school in the city was received.

The email was traced to a Class 5 student of the same school, who allegedly sent the mail in the hope that an exam scheduled for the next day would be called off, police said.

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