Chandigarh: A high security alert has been sounded across Chandigarh and Punjab after several schools in Chandigarh and Mohali received fresh bomb threat emails on Monday. The threatening communication explicitly warns of coordinated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts scheduled for July 17 across multiple locations in Chandigarh, Mohali, and Jalandhar. The timing of the threats directly coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled tour of Chandigarh, Punjab, and Haryana, where he is slated to inaugurate and announce several key development projects.
According to local law enforcement agencies, the email outlines a specific timeline for the purported attacks, claiming that local schools will be targeted at 1:11 p.m., followed by an explosion at the Mohali Mayor’s office at 3:11 p.m. on July 17. The electronic message further states that IEDs will be detonated at both the Chandigarh and Jalandhar railway stations. In addition to targeting public infrastructure, the sender issued a direct death threat to Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu, referencing his grandfather, the late Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The email also warned citizens against attending the Prime Minister’s public rallies and expressed explicit support for singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh, whose recent film controversy has sparked public debate.
The digital threat prompted immediate panic among educational administrators, especially after it was discovered that six specific schools in Mohali were named in the communication. Following the scare, the management of Shivalik Public School in Mohali’s Phase 6 took immediate precautionary measures and suspended classes, safely returning students home via standard bus routes. Police forces and specialised counter-terrorism units have stepped up surveillance, cordoning off the areas surrounding the threatened schools. While similar digital threats sent to educational and judicial institutions across Punjab over the past few months have ultimately been exposed as hoaxes, security officials are treating the current situation with extreme seriousness given the impending high-profile VIP movement in the region.
