False bomb threat sent to major airlines via X sparks investigation

MUMBAI: An X user identified as @chetansingh444 sent alarming messages to three prominent Indian airlines: Indigo, Air India , and Vistara—on Monday. The tweets, which were identical for all three airlines, stated, "Hi, There are bombs onboard of 10 of your planes. I' m serious. No one will get out alive today." The Sahar police registered a case against an unidentified individual on Tuesday following an internal assessment by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) at the Mumbai Airport , which concluded that the threat was a hoax.

Indigo Airlines was the first to receive the threatening message, claiming that bombs had been placed on ten of their domestic flights originating from various locations across India. "During the inquiry, the Indigo airliner learned that same message was received on the Twitter handles of Air India and Vistara airliners," stated a police officer from the Sahar police station.

In response to the alarming posts, airport authorities conducted thorough security checks on the specified flights, which included ten domestic Indigo flights, ten Vistara flights (all UK), and ten Air India flights (UK, New Delhi to Milan, two flights from New York-Mumbai, Chicago-Delhi, Delhi-Frankfurt, Amritsar to Birmingham, New Delhi to Birmingham, Newark to New Delhi, New York to New Delhi) that either departed from or arrived in Mumbai. "The Mumbai airport authorities also informed the airports in India to scan the flights that arrived at their respective destination," the police added.

After a comprehensive investigation, the police determined that the threat was a hoax. "We have launched an investigation to identify the individual behind the Twitter handle responsible for spreading the false information and causing panic among passengers and airlines," the police stated.