Hoax bomb threats to flights: Mumbai cops summon minor boy, his father from Chhattisgarh

Rajnandgaon: The Mumbai police have issued a notice to a 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 said.

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.

Nothing suspicious was found on any of the planes, police officials had said.

The bomb threat was received through a post on the micro-blogging platform X and the handle is being verified, an official said.

“On Monday, a bomb threat was posted on X for an Air India’s Mumbai-New York flight and IndiGo’s Mumbai to Muscat and Mumbai to Jeddah flights,” Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.

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, he 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.

The Mumbai police have registered a case against an unidentified person and the X handle.