Hyderabad police have registered eight cases related to anonymous bomb threats targeting flights at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). The threats, made via the social media platform X over the past week, were found to be hoaxes after comprehensive inspections of the flights and airport facilities.
Special police teams have been assembled to track down those responsible for the threats. Circle Inspector K. Balaraju noted that six threats were reported on Tuesday alone, affecting five IndiGo flights and one Air India flight. Among those, two IndiGo flights were scheduled for Chennai, and the Air India flight was arriving from Chennai.
The nature of these threats appears aimed at instilling fear among the public. Those behind the threats have been charged with causing panic and delaying flights. On Tuesday, RGIA was one of six airports that received bomb threats among a total of 72 reported nationally. These anonymous messages on X have caused significant disruptions in air travel.
Security measures have intensified, with the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and other agencies conducting thorough searches after each alert, utilizing sniffer dogs to examine flights, luggage, and the airport area.
According to Balaraju, it now takes around two hours to isolate and inspect a flight following each threat, leading to delays and increased strain on security resources, as well as undermining passenger confidence. Over the past ten days, numerous bomb threats have been reported nationwide, all ultimately confirmed as hoaxes by security agencies, causing panic and operational delays.
In a related development, authorities in Nagpur, Maharashtra, have identified a 35-year-old man, Jagdish Uikey, as the individual possibly behind a series of these false bomb threats, although he remains at large.