25-year-old unemployed resident of Delhi arrested for threatening to plant a bomb

Police said a 25-year-old unemployed resident of Uttam Nagar was arrested on Saturday for allegedly sending bomb threats to multiple airlines and claiming that bombs were planted on multiple flights on Friday evening. It was the second arrest across the country – Mumbai police detained a 17-year-old on October 16 – in connection with a series of false bomb threats over the past two weeks.

After seeing television reports on the matter, Upadhyay allegedly made two posts on social media threatening to blow up Delhi-bound planes. (Prasad Gori/HT File Photo)

Police identified the accused as Shubham Upadhyay, a class 12 graduate. A senior police officer said Upadhyay had allegedly made two posts on social media in which he threatened to explode Delhirelated flights, after seeing TV reports on the subject.

“We believe he copied the schedules of several flights and pasted them along with the threat that there were bombs on these planes,” said the officer, who did not want to be identified.

Both posts were forwarded to the IGI airport police early Saturday morning.

Police said they immediately registered a case under the Security Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Security of Civil Aviation (SUA-SCA) and intimidation section of the BNS.

Usha Rangnani, Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport), said: “We took immediate action and standard safety protocols were followed on all flights. The threat was found to be a scam. During the investigation, it was found that the origin of the messages was from an account registered in the name of Upadhyay. Based on further information, a raid was conducted and he was captured.”

Police said Upadhyay admitted posting the messages after seeing news of similar incidents on TV. “He wanted attention and sent the messages as a joke. The matter is currently under further investigation, Rangnani said.

Police said they had beefed up security in and around the airport and urged the public not to be “worried” by such threats.

Meanwhile, the aviation ministry has sent an advisory to airlines on the fake bomb threat and urged them to report fake calls, messages and posts as soon as possible.

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the ministry intends to take strict action against the accused and that the safety of passengers will not be compromised.