Bomb Threat to Flights: Police Register Cases Over Threats to Vistara and Other Airlines at Mumbai Airport

The Sahar Police have registered cases against individuals who allegedly sent bomb threat messages to Vistara Airlines and three other airlines via their social media handles on X (formerly Twitter). According to a police official, a threatening message was received from an X account named "2008 Blooming," warning of bombs on board. So far, Mumbai Police have lodged 12 FIRs in connection with such bomb threats.

In recent days, bomb threats targeting flights have seen a rise. Over the last 12 days, Mumbai Police have registered 12 cases involving bomb threat messages received via email or other means. The local police, along with the Crime Branch, are conducting parallel investigations into the threats. While each flight and piece of luggage was thoroughly checked, no suspicious items were found, and the threats were ultimately deemed false.

Last week, bomb threat messages were received by several airlines across the country. Vistara Airlines reportedly received threats concerning six flights, including UK 106 (Singapore to Mumbai) and UK 107 (Mumbai to Singapore). Akasa Air was also on alert for several flights, such as QP 102 (Ahmedabad to Mumbai), QP 1385 (Mumbai to Bagdogra), QP 1519 (Kochi to Mumbai), and QP 1526 (Lucknow to Mumbai). Indigo Airlines received security alerts for six flights, including 6E58 (Jeddah to Mumbai) and 6E17 (Mumbai to Istanbul). For each of these flights, thorough security checks were carried out, and all messages were confirmed to be hoaxes.

In a related incident, a tissue paper message claimed there was a bomb on a flight from Udaipur to Mumbai, which also turned out to be fake. Last week, the Sahar Police arrested a 17-year-old student from Chhattisgarh. The teenager allegedly created an account under someone else's name on X and posted threatening messages, reportedly to frame the individual due to a prior dispute.