Bomb threat to flights: 16 cases registered in Delhi likely to be transferred to NIA

An IndiGo flight, traveling from Jabalpur to Hyderabad, is seen at the Nagpur International Airport after being diverted following a bomb threat, in Nagpur, ono Sept. 1, 2024. File photo
| Photo Credit: PTI

At least 16 cases registered in connection with threats to flights of different airlines operating from Delhi are likely to be transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), officials sources said on Friday (December 6, 2024).

It has been learnt that the Delhi Police has written to the city government’s Home Department to transfer the cases to the NIA, they said, adding that it would be further sent to the Union Home Ministry for final approval.

“The matter is related to national security and it has an international ramification. All these 16 cases were registered under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation (SUA SCA) Act with BNS sections and they needed deeper probe,” an official source said.

In the last two weeks of October, more than 510 domestic and international flights received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes, causing major operational and financial distress for the airlines across the country. Most of the threats were issued through social media.

Police sources said 16 cases were registered in response to the threats to more than 150 domestic or international flights operating from Delhi.

The first case was registered on October 16 following a bomb threat received via X targeting a Bengaluru-bound Akasa Air flight. The aircraft, carrying over 180 passengers, was forced to return to the national capital, they said. The Indira Gandhi International Airport police, along with the Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell, conducted the probe into the matter but they have not got any lead into any of the cases as of now.

‘Difficult to locate’

“The threat messages were sent via VPN due to which the agencies are not able to get its exact domain or server. In some cases, the servers from which these messages were routed were located in European countries like the Union Kingdom and Germany,” another official source said.