Hoax Bomb Threats To Flights: Teenage Boy In Custody (image-instagram/airindia)

Bomb threats in Indian airlines have surged this week with a total of 12 flights of Indian carriers receiving bomb threats over the past three days. In a recent development to the event, the Mumbai police arrested a minor boy from Chhattisgarh for allegedly issuing hoax bomb threat calls to three flights.

The 17-year-old was detained and handed over to the Juvenile Justice Board after his parents gave notice. The boy is a school dropout from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh. The Mumbai police summoned his father on Tuesday. The police said that while he has been taken into custody, his father is still being questioned.

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As per the NDTV report, the boy had created a fake ID on the social media platform X in the name of his friend with whom he had a dispute and posted threats from it.

At least 19 threats were issued starting Monday. The Mumbai police have registered three First Information Reports (FIRs). The teenager has been taken into custody concerning the first FIR, which concerns Monday’s threats.

On Monday, the boy had issued hoax threats to four flights, three of which were on international routes. The police said that due to the hoax threats, one was cancelled while two others including Air India flight AI 119 from Mumbai to New York had to be diverted to New Delhi.

A similar instance had occurred on Tuesday as well. Air India flight AI 127 from Delhi to Chicago was diverted to the Iqaluit airport in Canada. IndiGo flight 6E 98 from Damman in Saudi Arabia to Lucknow made an emergency landing in Jaipur and threats were received by Air India Express, Akasa Air, and Alliance Air as well.

The threats were received on X handle which began appearing from afternoon onwards.

The issue was raised during the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport on Wednesday. The aviation officials had assured the MPs who were part of the panel that they had a few “critical leads” and some suspects had been identified.

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As per the NDTV report, a senior official from the airline had said that such hoax calls had made strong impacts on finances but they have no option but to take them seriously.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu said he was closely monitoring the situation and ensuring that every necessary measure is taken against such actions.