Bomb threats in Gujarat: ICSE exams deferred by an hour, GSHSEB exams affected too | Ahmedabad News

Ahmedabad: A wave of bomb threat emails targeting around 23 schools in Ahmedabad city and rural areas on Wednesday morning disrupted Indian Certificate for Secondary Education (ICSE) and state board exams, sending parents rushing to school gates and prompting rapid police action. Four schools serving as ICSE Class 10 exam centres were forced to delay their geography paper by an hour to allow the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) to check the premises. Four state board exam centres were also affected. Despite the threats, all exams were eventually conducted without disruption.The four ICSE centres — SGVP International School, Eklavya School, JG International School, and Zydus School for Excellence — pushed the exam from its original 11am slot to 12 noon. Alka Murthy, principal of Zydus School and city convenor for ICSE Class 10 exams, said the delay was to ensure students had adequate time. “The exams were conducted in a peaceful environment, and no untoward incident was reported,” she said.“We now have an SOP in place that as soon as we get a bomb threat, we inform the city police. The premises are emptied and we wait for the BDDS to conduct a sweep. We allow people in only once we get the clearance that all is safe,” said a senior official of an ICSE-affiliated school.The incident also saw several of the schools affiliated with the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) affected as the board exams are going on. The four state board exam centres affected were Diwan Ballubhai School in Paldi, Sant Kabir School in Naranpura, Muktijivan School, and Ankur School in Paldi. City DEO Rohit Chaudhary confirmed that stringent checks were carried out at all affected centres before exams were allowed to begin.As soon as the threats were received, school authorities informed the police, emptied the premises, and waited for the BDDS to clear each building. Officers conducted checks in plain clothes to avoid causing panic among students. Once the all-clear was given, students were allowed into exam halls.The response was swift and coordinated in the other schools, too, that received the threat. Nothing suspicious was found at any of the locations.Meanwhile, parents were rattled. Many rushed to school premises after hearing the news, but police reassured them that the situation was under control. The GSHSEB board chairman confirmed that exams concluded across all affected centres without any major inconvenience.