DU Colleges, Miranda House and Ramjas College were promptly evacuated following an alleged bomb threat shared with the respective college administrations via email earlier on the 6th of April.
Around 12:30 PM on Monday, 6th April, students were hurriedly evacuated from the Miranda House and Ramjas College campus due to an alleged bomb threat received via email on the same day. The email allegedly claimed that a series of 13 bombs filled with toxic gases had been planted on the campus grounds, prompting immediate action and safety concerns from students, faculty, and staff.
Miranda House English Department’s annual literature festival was in full swing when the announcement for evacuation rang out, which was consequently cut short. Vendors and students who had set up stalls for the event, speakers and guests, including author Ria Chopra, and hostel students were asked to vacate the campus on an urgent basis. While the announcement stated that this exercise was a “mock drill” to avoid panic and chaos among the students, according to sources and official reports, there was a real threat email, prompting authorities to respond promptly.
A first-year student from Miranda House’s English department expressed,
For our department, at least, the council was really disappointed, and after it came to light that the authorities knew about it and didn’t inform us earlier, somewhat sabotaged the event.” She added that, on the other hand, being in such a prestigious college, such as Miranda, and believing that you are safe within the campus, yet something as dangerous and real as this happening was a scary experience.”
Another student explained,
We were in the middle of our fest, in fact, the speaker session with Ria Chopra was going on as we received this information [about the bomb threat], and this was being announced through loudspeakers throughout the college. Initially, we were not sure what was happening or if this was accurate information or irrelevant panic. All the stalls had to be packed up, and overall, it was unexpected and unnerving to be in that situation. It was also really problematic for the Lit Fest as well—a lot of losses for a lot of people involved in the event.”
In an interview with Hindustan Times, a student from Ramjas College reported official Whatsapp channels being flooded with images of bomb squads and police dogs across campus. Students who had already reached Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station on their way to Ramjas, informed that they were told to go back home by the authorities.
Following the evacuation, police, bomb squads, and sniffer dogs were deployed on the premises to investigate the validity of the threat. However, according to various news reports, despite an extensive search operation across the entire campus, no suspicious device or activity was discovered, implying that the bomb threat was a hoax. However, this is an ongoing investigation, and efforts are being made to trace the source of the email.
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Manya Marwah
