Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Monday reviewed situation in the wake of hoax emails received by some schools in the national capital last week and emphasised the need to enhance security, CCTV cameras and regular monitoring of emails in the schools.

 Bhalla also asked the Delhi Police and schools to have close coordination for an effective response mechanism so that misinformation does not create any unnecessary panic.

"Home Secretary reviews the situation in wake of hoax emails received by some schools in Delhi last week. He stressed the need to prepare detailed protocol and SOPs to handle any such situation in future," a home ministry spokesperson said. "Home Secretary also emphasized the need to enhance security, CCTV cameras and regular monitoring of emails in the schools," the spokesperson said.

The meeting was attended by Delhi Chief Secretary and Delhi Police Commissioner.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court on Monday asked the city police to give details of the steps taken to ensure safe evacuation of school children in case of a bomb threat with least dependency on parents and without causing any panic.

The high court directed the Delhi Police and the Delhi government to file affidavits giving data on the number of schools in each zone, the nodal authority in each zone which will be responsible for taking action in case of receipt of a threat, the time required for taking action on receipt of a bomb threat, and the number of mock drills that have been conducted under supervision of police and other departments.

Justice Subramonium Prasad said though police have filed a status report listing the standard operating procedure (SOP) for bomb detection and disposal squads and the guidelines to deal with bomb threats in schools, they have not submitted data on several key aspects.The affidavits, to be filed by the city police and the government, shall include “the action taken to ensure least dependence on parents, who would be working at far away places, for evacuating children from the schools since the primary responsibility for evacuating will be on the schools and on the authorities”.