Teen arrested for bomb threats to airlines over dispute

A 17-year-old boy from Chhattisgarh was detained by Mumbai Police in connection with bomb hoax threats posted on social media targeting three flights on October 14, a senior officer said on Wednesday.

Prima facie, a financial dispute with a shopkeeper prompted the boy to create a social media account on X and post these tweets.

Mumbai Police have registered three separate FIRs in connection with the bomb hoax threats issued to various airlines on Monday and Tuesday, he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Zone VIII, Manish Kalvaniya clarified that the minor was not involved in tweeting a message on Tuesday when fresh bomb threats were issued.

The boy, a class 11 student, allegedly posted three bomb threat messages from Chhattisgarh on Monday, with a preliminary investigation hinting at a financial dispute with a shop owner, the police officer said.

The boy was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board in Mumbai and remanded in custody for four days on Tuesday, the DCP said.

Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Wednesday said law enforcement agencies are actively pursuing all cases of bomb threats against airlines and the government is closely monitoring the situation.

"All others responsible for the disruptions will be identified and duly prosecuted," the minister said in a statement as he strongly condemned any attempt to compromise the safety, security and operational integrity of the aviation sector.

In the last two days, nearly a dozen Indian flights, including some international flights, received bomb threats but nothing suspicious was found on the planes.

Three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats on Monday.

While a New York-bound Air India flight was diverted to New Delhi and rescheduled, the other two to Muscat and Jeddah, both operated by IndiGo, were delayed by several hours as the planes were moved to isolation bays for security checks.

Among the three FIRs, one was registered at the Airport police station in Mumbai regarding the AI flight threat and two FIRs were registered at the Sahar police station, based on complaints lodged by SpiceJet (Darbhanga to Mumbai flight) and IndiGo (Mumbai to Singapore flight), Kalwaniya said.

Police are trying to identify and locate the senders of these messages based on the Spicejet and IndiGO FIRs, he added.

"Sahar police detained a 17-year-old class 11 student from Chhattisgarh who allegedly created a social media account on X under the name of Fazluddin Nirban, a shop owner, and used it to send three threatening tweets to IndiGo and Air India on Monday," the DCP told reporters.

Three bomb threat messages were tweeted by the minor on Monday to Air India flight (Mumbai to New York) and IndiGo flights (Mumbai to Jeddah and Mumbai to Muscat), he said.

"The minor is not involved in posting the latest bomb hoax threats received on Tuesday," the DCP added.

Mumbai Police had issued a notice to the teenage boy, his father and another person from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh to join questioning in connection with bomb threats posted on social media targeting three flights, officials had said on Tuesday.

After receiving information about the tweet's connection with Rajnandgaon, Raipur Cyber Cell, and Rajnandgaon's Kotwali Police and Cyber Cell collected electronic data related to the case, Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg had said.

"A team of Mumbai police reached Rajnandgaon on Monday. With the help of Rajnandgaon police, a notice was issued to a 17-year-old boy, who is a resident of the city, his father, and the person whose X account was used. They were summoned for questioning and further action to Mumbai," the official said.