Police apprehended a 13-year-old boy for sending a fake email threat to the Delhi airport, claiming that a bomb had been planted on a Dubai-bound flight.
The police said the email threat was sent “for fun” by the boy, a Class 9 student, as he was influenced by news on social media platforms, where he had seen children send similar bomb hoax emails.
Usha Rangnani, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Indira Gandhi International Airport, said that the incident took place on June 17, on a flight scheduled to depart from Delhi to Dubai on June 18. Police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the matter. The airport was placed under high alert, and full emergency was declared.
The police followed guidelines and protocols for the safety of all passengers. Following proper verification, the email threat was found to be hoax, an officer said.
“During the course of the investigation, on verification of the sender email’s ID, it was revealed that the said email ID was deleted just after sending the email. We traced it to Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand. A team was sent there and a 13-year-old boy was found involved in sending the bomb threats,” Ms. Rangnani said.
“The boy told the police that his parents had given him a mobile phone for study purposes, which he used to send the email threats. After sending the threat, he deleted his account. He did not share information about the incident with his parents because he was scared,” the DCP said.
