Minor arrested for issuing bomb threats to airlines, Govt closely monitoring situation: Aviation Minister Naidu

K Rammohan Naidu

The Union government is closely monitoring the ongoing situation of bomb threats to multiple Indian airlines over the last few days, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on October 16, and asserted that all necessary measures are being taken against such activities.

Strongly condemning the recent bomb threats to Indian carriers, the minister said the Mumbai Police have arrested a minor responsible for issuing bomb threats to three flights and that others responsible for disruptions will be identified and prosecuted.

The 17-year old minor boy arrested by Mumbai Police wanted to frame one of his friends with whom he had a monetary dispute, according to a separate report by NDTV.

The boy, a school dropout from Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon, allegedly created a handle on social media network X in the name of the friend with whom he had the dispute and posted bomb threats from it, the report added. While the boy is being taken to a remand home, his father has been summoned and is still being questioned, police sources said.

The law enforcement agencies are pursuing all cases actively, Minister Naidu said.

"We are closely monitoring the situation and ensuring that we are committed to maintaining the highest security standards and passenger safety remains our topmost priority,” Naidu said in a statement. "Such mischievous and unlawful actions are a matter of grave concern, and I strongly condemn any attempts to compromise the safety, security, and operational integrity of our aviation sector."

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The comments come at a time when as many as 19 flights of various domestic airlines have received bomb threats in last three days, with all of them turning out to be hoaxes.

Recent hoax calls have impacted flights over several days. On Wednesday, two flights received threats: an Akasa Delhi-Bangalore flight returned to Delhi, and an IndiGo Mumbai-Delhi flight was diverted to Ahmedabad.

Earlier in the week, threats affected at least 10 flights, including an Air India Delhi-Chicago flight which diverted to a remote Canadian town and an AI Mumbai-New York flight which returned to Delhi.

(With PTI inputs)