AMU receives bomb threat mail, security arrangements intensified

ALIGARH: Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) received a threat email "to blow up the campus", following which the security arrangements have been intensified, police said on Friday. Superintendent of Police (City) Mrigank Shekhar Pathak said that checking at all sensitive areas in and around the campus has been ongoing since last evening all top varsity officials including the Vice Chancellor received the email.

The authorities are "not taking any chances" on this threat, Pathak said. The police and university authorities are maintaining a strict vigil in all crowded areas, including the Maulana Azad library, the officer said. AMU spokesperson Asim Siddiqui told PTI that the email letter also mentions "ransom money".

"The university authorities reported this matter to the police, who have also activated the Cyber Crime Cell to trace the origins of the mail ID from which the threat was issued," he added. The police have been pressed into service, among others, dog squads at key points inside the campus.

Circle Officer (Civil Lines) Abhay Pandey said the police were trying to ascertain whether the threat was a hoax or aimed at disturbing the peace of the city. Earlier on Friday, Delhi Police said they had detained a Class 12 student for allegedly sending bomb threats to schools in the national capital.

Around a dozen educational institutes received bomb threats on Thursday, the latest in a series of such incidents in Delhi. In recent months, several institutions and airports in parts of Uttar Pradesh also received similar bomb threats which turned out to be hoaxes.