Minor detained for airline bomb threats; wanted to frame friend
What's the story
The Mumbai Police have detained a minor in connection with a string of hoax bomb threats that targeted several airlines over the last three days.
His father is also being questioned as part of the investigation.
The threat messages were traced back to Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh.
The threats were purportedly issued by the boy to frame one of his friends with whom he had a financial dispute.
Legal action
Delhi Police register 6 cases related to bomb threats
According to NDTV, the 17-year-old school dropout allegedly created a handle on X in the name of the friend and used it to post bomb threats.
Other reports claim that he was detained for issuing a threat to an Air India flight headed to New York.
"With the help of Rajnandgaon Police, a notice was issued to a 17-year-old boy...his father, and the person whose X account was used," Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.
Government response
Civil Aviation Minister holds meeting with DGCA officials
Separately, the Delhi Police have registered six cases in connection with the bomb threats received by various airlines.
In light of the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu called a high-level meeting with Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials.
The meeting was called to discuss and tackle the recurring issue of bomb threats to several airlines.
On Wednesday alone, several airlines, including IndiGo, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet received bomb threats that later turned out to be a hoax.
Flight disruptions
Seven flights disrupted due to bomb threats on Tuesday
On Tuesday, seven flights were also affected due to bomb threats.
These included Air India's Delhi-Chicago flight (AI127), Air India Express's Madurai-Singapore flight (IX 684), and IndiGo's Dammam-Lucknow flight (6E-98).
Three international flights from Mumbai had also received similar threats on Monday.
In the aftermath, the Indian government is considering putting people behind hoax threats against flights on a no-fly list.
A senior official confirmed that they are working to identify the relevant law to back this move.