LAHORE, Feb 11: Bomb hoaxer(s) brought panic to the students, their teachers and parents at two posh area schools in the city on Monday resulting in evacuation of the campuses.

Fear gripped the Beaconhouse School’s DHA Y-Block branch and Divisional Public School’s Township branch, as the respective administrations received information that bombs were planted on the campuses.

The administrations immediately evacuated students, teachers and employees, an hour before the closing time, and called police.

At the Beaconhouse School, the DHA security officials also found an unattended bag under a staircase in a veranda which they immediately placed in the open. That thickened fear among students as well as school staff.

The evacuations created a sort of chaos at the schools’ gates where the students felt marooned as there was nobody to receive them, contrasting a routine day closing time.

The parents and van drivers coming to schools to get children back too had difficulty in contacting them which added to their agony.

Worst hit were the children in junior classes who were witnessed crying on not finding their parents or vans for quite some time.

The Beaconhouse School also put up a notice declaring Tuesday a holiday.

Police could not find any clue to the hoaxer who had called DPS administration from a number which had no caller identification.

Defence Circle supervisory police officer Ayaz Saleem told Dawn that the Bomb Disposal Squad officials reaching Beaconhouse School found a `bomb-like object’ in the bag which was found underneath a staircase. He explained that somebody had tied two tiles with a black tape and fixed two red wires and a watch dial on them.

Mr Saleem said the school administration had installed 16 close circuit TV cameras on the campus and according to the initial findings the recorded footages did not show anybody bringing the stuff inside.

He, however, said the police had the CD having recordings done by all the CCTV cameras which would be scanned minutely to trace the hoaxer(s). He said the police suspected that it was a joke played by some students.

When contacted, Beaconhouse School System chief executive Kasim Kasuri said some students had played the prank in the backdrop of the ongoing tense situation in the country to compel the administration to close down the school for a day or more.

To ensure students’ security, he said, the BSS administration had installed CCTV cameras in all of its branches in Lahore. “We have taken all possible security measures and now we plan to become more vigilant about students’ security,” he added.