2024 Indian bomb hoaxes
From late April to May 2024, numerous bomb threat hoax emails and calls were received by many establishments including schools, colleges, hotels and airports across India, most of which were targeted at organisations in Delhi.[1][2][3]
Threats[edit]
April[edit]
On April 26, authorities Kolkata and Jaipur Airports received emails claiming bombs were planted at various locations on its premises.
On 28 April, Mumbai Airport received a hoax bomb threat call, followed by Bhopal, Dabolim and Kolkata airports which received bomb threat emails the following day.[4]
On 29 May, more than 30 airports coming under Airports Authority of India (AAI) and private received a bomb threat by mail. The mail was sent to 90+ email IDs of airports and security agencies.[5]
On 30 April, Chacha Nehru Hospital in Shahdara received a bomb threat.[6]
May[edit]
On 1 May, over 200 schools in Delhi-NCR received an identical message on their official IDs at around 04:00 — an email “threatening to blow up” the premises. The incident triggered mass evacuations of schools and panic among parents. After a thorough check, it was declared a hoax. Following a preliminary probe by the Delhi Police Special Cell’s Counter-Intelligence Unit (CIU), the email 'sawariim@mail.ru' was traced to a Russian IP address.[7][8]
Sanskriti School in Chanakyapuri, Mother Mary School at Mayur Vihar in East Delhi, Delhi Public School in Dwarka and Noida, and Amity International School in Pushp Vihar and Saket were among the schools that received the bomb threats.[9]
On 6 May, 41 schools in Ahmedabad, Gujarat received bomb threat emails.[10]
On 12 May, at least 20 hospitals in Delhi, the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and the Northern railways' office received similar emails from a Cyprus-based mailing service company 'beeble.com'.[11]
On May 13, six private hospitals in Bengaluru received a hoax email bomb threat.[12]
On 13-14 May, five private schools and two government schools in Kanpur received bomb threat emails.[13]
On 14 May, the 16th anniversary of the 2008 Jaipur bombings, over 55 schools in Jaipur received bomb threats via email.[14]
On 14 May, seven more hospitals and Tihar Jail in Delhi received bomb threats from the same Cyprus-based mailing service company.[15]
On 15 May, a crew member in a Delhi-Vadodara Air India flight in Delhi Airport found a tissue paper with the word "bomb" written on it in the aircraft's washroom.[16]
On May 19, the Mumbai Police received a call informing about a bomb threat at McDonald's in Dadar, Mumbai. The caller claimed to have overheard a conversation between two individuals discussing plans to "blow up McDonald's" while travelling on a bus.[17]
On 22 May, a bomb threat was received at the North Block, which houses the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The email was sent from an anonymous Gmail address and it was suspected that the sender had used a VPN (virtual private network) that masks the IP address, according to police.[18]
On 23 May, a bomb threat email was received by three hotels in Bengaluru, including the Oterra Hotel situated in Electronic City.[19] The emails were sent by a person who identified himself as daudee jiwal, claiming to be the son of a senior IPS officer. The sender claimed that his father had colluded with Pakistan-based ISI and a Tamil Nadu-based political family to execute the blast, to divert the attention from a drug scandal in which the TN-based political family is involved. The caller also suggested evacuation of the hotels by 14:30. in the e-mail that was sent around 02:30. The sender also asked that Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS) be deployed, while warning that some of the BDDS staff were under the "supervision of his father".[20]
On the same day, over a dozen colleges of Delhi University including Hansraj College, Gargi College, Ramjas College, Zakir Husain College, Indraprastha College For Women, Lady Irwin College, Kirori Mal College, Bhaskaracharya College, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Sri Venkateswara College, and PGDAV received bomb threat e-mails.[citation needed]
Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University and School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), among other state universities also received the threat.[21]
On May 26, around 2.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. the Chennai Airport received two emails, stating that bombs will be planted near the airport and that passengers should be deboarded from the aircraft.[22]
On 27 May, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Mumbai Airport received a bomb threat call.[23]
On 28 May, a Varanasi-bound IndiGo flight received a bomb threat at the Delhi Airport. According to police, an information was received regarding a paper found in the lavatory of an IndiGo flight scheduled to depart for Varanasi, with the phrase “bomb @5.30” written on it. The bomb scare prompted authorities to evacuate all the staff and 176 passengers onboard.[24]
On the same day, the official residence and principal workplace of the chief minister of Telangana, Praja Bhavan received a bomb threat. The area was immediately sealed as police and the bomb disposal squad rushed to conduct a thorough investigation.[25]
On 29 May, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport received a bomb threat. A note was found in a male washroom at the Alpha 3 building of airport, which said that the airport would be rocked by a series of bomb blasts.[26]
On 31 May, a Srinagar-bound Vistara flight received a bomb threat call, which departed from Delhi and was carrying 177 passengers and one infant, landed safely at Srinagar Airport.[27]
Investigation[edit]
The bomb threat emails received by schools in Delhi are suspected to have been sent from Budapest, Hungary. An officer announced that the IP address of the anonymous sender of the emails had been traced there. The police also said the emails were sent from mail.ru, a Russian server, and had written to the mailing service company. Delhi police were planning to reach out to law enforcement agencies in Hungary to further investigate the issue. Furthermore, it was mentioned that initial investigations had raised suspicions of a "deeper conspiracy" potentially orchestrated by an ISIS module, aimed at disrupting the ongoing general election.[28]
The lieutenant-governor of Delhi Vinai Kumar Saxena requested a comprehensive report from the state police and ordered them to conduct searches and apprehend the culprits without any oversight. Saxena urged parents not to panic and advised them to cooperate fully with authorities.[29]
Cyber Crime officials launched an investigation into the matter after an FIR was registered by Kanpur Police. They were also trying to ascertain patterns between the mails received by schools in Lucknow, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Delhi.[14]
On 29 May, Hyderabad City Police arrested a man who allegedly made a call about a bomb being planted in Praja Bhavan and Nampally Court. The accused reportedly told police that he made the calls in an inebriated condition after a fight with his wife.[30]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Bureau, The Hindu (2024-05-23). "Three Bengaluru hotels receive hoax bomb threat emails". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ Service, Indo-Asian News (2024-05-23). "Some Delhi colleges receive hoax bomb threats". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "Bomb threats in India: Alarming rise in May 2024; all you need to know". mint. 2024-05-28. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "After Mumbai, Bhopal, Goa, Nagpur, Kolkata and Jaipur airports, Delhi's Chacha Nehru Hospital receives bomb threat via email". The Economic Times. 2024-04-30. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ A, Naina J. "Hoax bomb threat email to Mangaluru International Airport". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ PTI. "Chacha Nehru Hospital in Delhi's Shahdara receives bomb threat email, probe on". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "Panic in Delhi as over 150 schools get bomb threat emails". The Indian Express. 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Links to China, ISI: When bomb hoax at 200 schools in Delhi-NCR led to panic". The Times of India. 2024-05-02. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
- ^ "Bomb scare: Nearly 100 Delhi-NCR schools get bomb threat. Details here". mint. 2024-05-01. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "41 Ahmedabad schools get bomb threats day before polling; 'hoax', say police". The Indian Express. 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "Delhi: 4 hospitals receive bomb threat email, search operation underway". mint. 2024-05-14. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Bengaluru hospitals receive bomb threat, police declare it as hoax later". Hindustan Times. 2024-05-13. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur schools receive hoax bomb threat via emails". The Hindu. 2024-05-15. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ a b "Bomb hoax mailed to 55 schools on anniversary of Jaipur serial blasts". The Hindu. 2024-05-13. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-05-24.
- ^ "Bomb threat calls at Delhi's Lady Shri Ram, Venkateswara College". Hindustan Times. 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Fake 'bomb' note sparks panic onboard Delhi-Vadodara flight". The Times of India. 2024-05-16. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "Ahead Of LS Polls, Mumbai Police Receives Threat Call For Bomb Blast At McDonald's Dadar". News18. 2024-05-19. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "North Block receives bomb threat email turns out to be hoax". The Week. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Three hotels in Bengaluru receive bomb threat emails, bomb squad dispatched". Hindustan Times. 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Three Bengaluru hotels receive hoax bomb threat emails". The Hindu. 2024-05-23. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Lady Sri Ram, Hansraj, Ramjas and other Delhi colleges receive bomb threat e-mails". The New Indian Express. 2024-05-23. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ Bureau, The Hindu (2024-05-27). "Chennai airport receives hoax bomb threat; security beefed up". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "Mumbai Police receives hoax bomb threat call to blow up Taj Hotel, airport". India Today. 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ India, Press Trust of (2024-05-28). "Bomb scare on Varanasi-bound flight at Delhi airport turns out hoax". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ Livemint (2024-05-28). "Hyderabad's Praja Bhavan receives bomb threat, disposal squad rushed to spot". mint. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ^ "Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport receives fresh hoax bomb threat, triggers panic". Hindustan Times. 2024-05-29. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
- ^ "Srinagar-bound Vistara flight carrying 177 passengers gets bomb threat". Firstpost. 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
- ^ "Bomb threat emails sent to 150 schools traced to Budapest; larger conspiracy possibly at play, say police". The Hindu. 2024-05-21. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ "Bomb threat in Delhi-NCR schools: L-G Saxena seeks report from police; urges parents not to panic". The Economic Times. 2024-05-01. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-05-23.
- ^ Service, Indo-Asian News (2024-05-30). "Man arrested over hoax bomb threats in Hyderabad". The Siasat Daily. Retrieved 2024-05-31.