Mumbai: The series of hoax threat calls to different airlines has been made apparently to create a climate of instability in the country in general and in the civil aviation industry in particular, sources in the polices said. “There appears to be a pattern to the calls. It is significant that on Monday the banned terror outfit, Sikhs for Justice, too warned passengers from travelling Air India from November 1 to 19,” a senior police officer told the FPJ.
The Mumbai police has been able to trace only one of the ten hoax bomb threat calls received last week. When contacted by the FPJ, senior inspector of Sahar police station, Dhananjay Sonawane said the remaining nine hoax calls are also being investigated with the help of the cyber cell. In all the nine cases FIRs have been filed against unidentified persons.
In one case, a minor boy from Rajnandgaon in Chhatisgarh has been arrested. The boy had allegedly threatened to blow up an Indigo flight from Mumbai to Muscat. His interrogation has reportedly not yielded much information. Apparently, he has been used by others, but the police have not been able to trace them so far.
Last week, Mumbai flights received more than ten bomb threats, all of which turned out to be hoaxes. The threats were aimed at international and domestic flights. The Sahar police and the Airport police station registered FIRs, but so far, only one minor has been arrested, and the main accused has yet to be traced. The police stated they are investigating but have chosen not to disclose any information about the investigation.
In recent days, almost every airline has received bomb threats, disrupting flight schedules at multiple airports, including Mumbai. Most of the threats were sent via social media or email. In Mumbai alone, more than 10 FIRs have been registered by the Sahar and Airport police stations against unidentified individuals. The Sahar police have arrested a minor from Chhattisgarh, but the mastermind behind the threats and their motive remain unknown.
On Saturday, the threats were directed at the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at Mumbai Airport through anonymous emails and posts on X (formerly Twitter). Additionally, on Saturday, a message reading “Bomb on board” was found written on a tissue paper on a Udaipur-Mumbai flight. The Sahar police have registered a case in this matter and have launched an investigation.
Several bomb threats targeted airlines across the country. Vistara Airlines received threats for six of its flights, including UK 106 (Singapore to Mumbai) and UK 107 (Mumbai to Singapore).
Akasa Air was also alerted for several flights, including QP 102 (Ahmedabad to Mumbai), QP 1385 (Mumbai to Bagdogra), QP 1519 (Kochi to Mumbai), and QP 1526 (Lucknow to Mumbai).
IndiGo Airlines issued a security alert for six flights, including 6E58 (Jeddah to Mumbai) and 6E17 (Mumbai to Istanbul). All aircraft and passengers were subjected to thorough security checks, and upon investigation, the threats were found to be false.
Every time a flight landed, the isolation bay and security teams thoroughly inspected the aircraft, but nothing was found. However, due to the hoax calls, Mumbai airport operations were severely disrupted, causing airlines to incur losses in crores. Passengers also faced significant inconvenience, with their schedules disrupted. Many are now demanding that authorities take stern action against those responsible for the threats.
