More than 40 hoax bomb threats to flights in a week: Here is what authorities are doing to identify the miscreants

Airlines in India are facing an unprecedented crisis, stemming from what appears to be a deliberate attempt to spread confusion and disrupt flight operations by issuing hoax bomb threats. On Friday alone, three Vistara flights, an Air India Express flight, and another operated by Akasa Air received bomb threats through social media.

CREDIT: BCCL

Vistara, Air India Express, Akasa Air get bomb threats

According to Vistara, its flights operating out of Delhi to London, Paris, and Hong Kong received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes.

Akasa Air on Saturday said its flight QP 1366, scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Friday, received a security alert shortly before departure, while an Air India Express flight from Dubai had to make an emergency landing at Jaipur Airport in the early hours of Saturday due to a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax.

Also read:?As airlines continue to receive hoax bomb threats on social media, here is a look at the security procedure

Over 40 bomb threats this week

Hoax bomb threats have become a daily occurrence throughout the week, with over 40 flights affected so far. What makes the situation particularly worse is that all the threats have emerged through faceless social media handles.?

Two detained, but threats continue

So far, only two people, including a 17-year-old boy from Chhattisgarh and his father, have been detained by the police in connection with the hoax bomb threats. While the 17-year-old boy is accused of issuing the bomb threats on Monday, even after he was detained, the menace has continued.

Special team to probe hoax bomb threats

The Delhi Police on Thursday wrote to social media platforms seeking details of the accounts that posted threatening messages.

CREDIT: BCCL

A dedicated team has been formed to probe bomb threat cases. A team from the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police, Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO), has also been roped in for the probe.

"It is suspected that the handler used a VPN (virtual private network) or dark web browser to set up the accounts on X and then posted the messages from more than one account," an officer said.??

On Wednesday, police approached the social media platforms to suspend the handles that posted threatening messages and remove the posts.

CREDIT: BCCL

What government is doing

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry said it is considering stricter regulations, including placing individuals responsible for hoax bomb threats on a no-fly list.

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