Over 400 schools in India's Delhi received bomb threats in 2024. Now the probe into the event has triggered a political storm in poll-bound national capital.
The Delhi police revealed that the family of a teen allegedly involved in sending the bomb threats works with a non-profit organisation (NGO) that "had connections with a political party".
BJP slammed AAP over having “deep bonds” with the NGOs that have opposed hanging Afzal Guru, a convict of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
“All of us know that AAP has deep bonds with such NGOs who have opposed Afzal Guru's hanging. In February 2015, the ‘tukde-tukde’ slogans were raised on Afzal Guru's death anniversary and the AAP kept the file closed for months... Who are the people of these NGOs and are they related to the Aam Aadmi Party?... Both of the parents of Delhi CM Atishi supported the clemency petition of Afzal Guru,” BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi said.
He also demanded party leader Arvind Kejriwal to come forward and clarify the connections AAP has with the accused NGO.
"There seems to be a direct connection between these two... Is the AAP involved in this?... I ask Arvind Kejriwal to come forward and AAP should clarify what their relation is with these people... If juveniles are doing this, then what kind of venom are these NGOs injecting into the minds of the children of the country?... We want a clear answer from the AAP... If they don't give a clear answer, that deepens the doubt...," he added.
Now AAP has retaliated, saying that the opposition was "politicising" the event and was using the incident for its own gains.
"You (BJP) are politicising the issue of school children getting threats... The first threat was given in May 2024. After almost 9 months now, the Delhi police have given no statement but the BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi is holding a press conference. He is telling stories of different NGOs, he knows everything... There was no investigation for 10 months but now 15 days before the elections, they are narrating fabricated stories...," AAP MP Sanjay Singh said.
What did the Delhi police say?
The Delhi police on Tuesday said that the Class 12th student who was held for allegedly sending bomb threat emails to over 400 schools in Delhi was linked to an NGO that was linked to a political party.
"We were tracking e-mails and because of a virtual private network (VPN), it was difficult to track the origins. We also had to ascertain whether there was a terror angle to it," Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Oder) Madhup Tewari said at a press conference, according to news agency PTI reports.
"Our teams tracked the minor after recent e-mails on January 8. As the e-mail sender was a juvenile, the team took his laptop and mobile phone for a forensic examination," Tewari said.
“The emails were sent in a very sophisticated manner, including the use of VPNs. Hence, we had difficulties in tracing the emails," he further added.
(With inputs from agencies)