Man held for hoax e-mail about aircraft hijack threat

Hyderabad: Police today arrested a person from here for allegedly sending a hoax e-mail to Mumbai police about a possible aircraft hijack attempt.

“Vamshi Krishna has been arrested for sending the hoax mail to Mumbai Police Commissioner about the aircraft hijack threat. Some incriminating material has been seized from his possession,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) B Limba Reddy told PTI.

On April 16, the security at international airports in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai was put on maximum alert after the police forces of Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu and the CISF were informed about a possible aircraft hijack attempt.

CISF Director General O P Singh had then said that the security apparatus at these airports was put on “an enhanced alert and protocols have been stepped up”.

“The e-mail could eventually turn out be a hoax but till investigations conclude all security drills to thwart a hijack like scenario are being carried out at the three airports,” he had said.

The Mumbai police on Saturday night received an e-mail, sent by Krishna impersonating as a Hyderabad-based woman.

The woman claimed to have overheard six men telling each other that “all 23 people have to split from here and board flights in three cities and hijack planes”.

“The unidentified woman wrote in the e-mail that what she heard could be ‘true or not’ but she chose to inform the authorities as she felt it was her duty to do so as a citizen,” a senior officer earlier said.

The contents of the e-mail were shared by Mumbai Police with security and intelligence agencies and a meeting of all the stakeholders at these airports was subsequently convened with the input being declared specific and actionable, he said.