Patiala: Panic gripped Patiala on Thursday after several prominent educational institutions received bomb threat emails, triggering evacuations and a large-scale security response in the city.Police said at least 12 institutions, including Yadavindra Public School (YPS) and Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), Patiala, received the threat emails on Thursday morning.School authorities activated emergency protocols, moved students out of classrooms to open areas and asked parents to pick up their children. The rush led to temporary traffic congestion in parts of the city, including Urban Estate and Mall Road.Patiala Police, led by DSP Satnam Singh and SP (Investigation) Gurbans Bains, deployed bomb disposal squads, sniffer dogs and anti-sabotage teams to the campuses.The response was heightened as Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria was in the city to attend an annual function at Punjabi University.Police said thorough searches were carried out at all locations mentioned in the emails, but nothing suspicious was found.Investigators said the emails appeared similar to recent bomb threat messages received by institutions in Chandigarh and Jalandhar on April 6, which were later declared hoaxes after searches. Officials also pointed to the recent bomb hoax at Patiala district courts, saying the latest threats appeared to fit a broader pattern of coordinated scare messages.Officials said this was the third major wave of school-related bomb scare emails in Punjab this year. In February, 16 schools in Mohali were evacuated under similar circumstances, while in December 2025, schools in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Patiala had also received such threats.Cybercrime teams are tracing the origin of the emails. Officials suspect a coordinated hoax or “swatting” campaign aimed at creating panic and testing police response.Authorities have urged parents and residents to rely only on official police updates and avoid sharing unverified messages on social media.
