Mohali and the adjacent Chandigarh area were rocked by high drama and panic by an ominous email of coordinated bomb explosions, at 1:11 PM. Fortis Hospital, where the Punjab Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann currently receives medical treatment, and 16 prominent private schools in the district, were the first target mentioned.
The "1:11" Deadline
The threatening email, which appeared early Tuesday morning and was said to offer a reason for being, stated that explosions would take place in the afternoon. This exact time slot 1:11 PM mirrored a similar rash of hoax threats targeting Chandigarh schools earlier in January, which was a possible pattern by a serial offender or group.
CM Bhagwant Mann Under High Security
The threat was a bit more than normal as Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was at Fortis Hospital Mohali. After exhaustion due to an event in Moga by a village defense committee on Monday evening, the CM was readmitted to the facility. As the threat was received, Punjab Police, Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS) and Sniffer Dog teams quickly cordoned off the hospital. While essential medical care continued to be provided to patients, unneeded visitors were banned and a vast deployment of elite police units was established to defend the hospital's perimeter.
Schools Evacuated
At the same time, at least 16 private schools in Mohali, including leading institutions such as Yadavindra Public School (YPS), Learning Paths, and Manav Mangal Smart School, received similar or identical threats.
- The School Managers’ Response: The school managements responded immediately by suspending classes and alerting parents to help collect their children.
- The Search: SP (City) Mohali, Dilpreet Singh, confirmed that anti-sabotage teams conducted thorough sweeps of all mentioned campuses.
Inquiry of the link: the "Khalistan National Army?"
Initial reports indicate the email may have been delivered under the auspices of the so-called "Khalistan National Army," a shadowy agency that has claimed responsibility for other hoaxes in the past. Mohali SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans cautioned the public to remain calm, noting that although the threat seems to be a hoax meant to disrupt operations, the police are taking it with “utmost seriousness” based on the VVIP presence at the hospital.
Cyber teams are now piecing together the email’s IP address, previous leads in the same type of cases have identified servers in the US and Europe. Current Status. At 2:00 PM, no suspicious devices or explosives have been found at any of the locations. A precautionary measure until the Chief Minister is released, Fortis Hospital still retains heightened security.
