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A 17-year-old boy was taken into custody by the Mumbai Police last week after threatening four flights.
Only the second arrest since a wave of false bomb threats started being sent to airlines last week has been made for a 25-year-old Delhi unemployed man who made the threats. The man acknowledged making the threats to attract attention to himself after witnessing similar calls on television, according to Delhi Police officials.
Since October 14, fictitious bomb threats have been sent to over 275 flights, and last week, the Mumbai Police arrested a 17-year-old.
The Delhi Police said in a statement on Saturday that two threat messages from a social media account were received at the capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport between Friday night and early Saturday.
Investigations showed that the account belonged to Shubham Upadhyay of Rajapuri, which is located in the Uttam Nagar neighbourhood of west Delhi. A case was filed. After being taken into custody, Upadhyay admitted during interrogation that he had made the threats to attract attention after seeing TV reports of similar calls.
According to officials, Upadhyay, 25, is unemployed and has completed Class 12 education.
“We reassure the public that all necessary security measures are in place, and there is no cause for alarm. In a statement, the Delhi Police said, “We urge everyone to be on guard and notify the authorities of any suspicious activity.”
A 17-year-old school dropout from Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, was arrested by the Mumbai Police on October 16 after he threatened four flights on October 14. The teen allegedly made an X handle in his name and threatened to frame him following a financial argument with a friend.
Out of the four flights that the boy had threatened, one had to be cancelled and two were delayed, including Air India flight AI 119 from Mumbai to New York, which was rerouted to New Delhi.
The Ministry’s Caution
In an advisory sent to social media platforms on Friday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said fake bomb threats issued to airlines pose a threat to public order and asked them to act against the spread of such misinformation at the earliest.
Additionally, the ministry threatened to take action against the platforms for failing to fulfil their due diligence duties.
The safety and security of airline passengers and crew remains the government’s top priority, and civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu reaffirmed Friday that the government will take tough measures against those responsible.
“We have serious concerns,” he said in response to recent air travel disruptions brought on by false bomb threats. Our top priorities are safety and security, and we are determined to take tough measures against the people responsible for these heinous crimes. Together, let us make sure everyone can fly safely,” he wrote on X.