A fresh bomb threat was received in Punjab’s Mohali on Tuesday (February 17), prompting increased security checks. Several private schools received threatening emails, which also involved Fortis Hospital, where Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is currently admitted.
Police said the alerts prompted immediate anti-sabotage operations at the hospital and affected educational institutions, although no explosives or suspicious material were found. Officials described the situation as under control, with essential services at the hospital continuing without interruption.
Mohali schools receive threatening emails; Fortis Hospital also named
According to officials, the threat was emailed to several schools in Mohali on Tuesday, with Fortis Hospital included in the same message. The double mention set off a coordinated district-wide search.
SP Dilpreet Singh said, “This threat call has come again. Last time also turned out to be false. We have not found any such suspicious or dangerous material this time either. The situation is currently at zero threat level…We are currently verifying the source of this email address and investigating it. Apart from this, no organization has claimed responsibility for it and has not done any legitimate check. All essential services are not running legitimately. There is no danger to anyone at this time.”
Authorities said the police response was calibrated to the sensitivity of the hospital given the presence of the chief minister and a broader pattern of hoax threats reported across the region in recent weeks.
Anti-sabotage checks were carried out at Fortis Mohali
A senior police official in Mohali said the hospital was immediately swept by security teams, with some non-essential functions briefly suspended as a precaution.
“The school bomb threat also mentioned Fortis Hospital in Mohali where we were conducting anti-sabotage checks. Non-essential services were suspended while essential services continued,” said a senior police official in Mohali.
Police said checks were also being conducted at the schools that received the emails as investigators worked to verify the origin of the message and determine whether it was related to similar threats sent in other cities.
Security has already been tightened due to the hospitalization of Bhagwant Mann
Security has already been beefed up in and around Fortis Hospital following Mann’s admission, officials said. He was readmitted Monday night, just hours after being released from the same facility.
PTI reported that CM Mann returned to the hospital after experiencing exhaustion.
The hospital episode heightened the sensitivity of the threat, especially as Punjab has experienced repeated bomb scares at schools and public institutions, almost all of which were found to be hoaxes after inspection.
The pattern of fraudulent threats is spreading across Punjab and Chandigarh
The latest incident follows a series of similar threats reported in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and parts of Haryana, with authorities confirming earlier warnings were unfounded.
Sixteen private schools in Mohali received bomb threat emails on Wednesday, prompting evacuation and detailed anti-sabotage checks by the police. After the checks carried out, no suspicious or explosive material was found.
Police said they are now focused on tracing the source of the email, examining digital traces and determining whether the same actors are behind multiple threats across the region.
For now, the threat level remains low, with normal services continuing and no disruptions reported at the hospital, officials said.