Intelligence Bureau to help with bomb threats to flights probe

A SpiceJet aircraft received a bomb threat via social media on Oct 16. Pic/Rane Ashish

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been roped in to investigate the series of bomb threats received by Indian airlines in the past 15 days. In the past 15 days, Indian airlines have received as many as 463 bomb threats, causing major disruptions to schedules of many flights. On Monday, 61 fresh bomb threats were received.

The threats, directed at multiple carriers, have caused widespread concern and heightened security measures across the nation's airports. Amid a rise in hoax bomb threats received by airlines, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a media address that the government is taking steps to ban perpetrators who resort to hoax bomb threats from flying.

"We will take the support of international agencies, law enforcement wings, and IB," he said. The minister said that the Centre is also mulling an amendment to two civil aviation laws. A source from the IB confirmed the development and also disclosed, "We were keeping an eye for the bomb threats from day 1. The only issue we are facing is the use of virtual private networks (VPN) and dark web, making the perpetrators untraceable."

Additionally, social media platforms are providing the law enforcement agencies with the basic details of the accounts issuing these threats. "...But, all the exit nodes of these IP addresses acquired are being traced back to VPN providers. This is making it very difficult for us to even track the original IP address," said the source.

The source added, "The ministry is also taking help from international agencies to track down the perpetrators. All aspects of the case are being investigated. Apart from this, investigations at the local level are also in full force with the cyber cells, and the police are also investigating the leads."

Earlier, the Ministry of Information Technology urged social media platforms to remove or disable access to misinformation within the strict timelines outlined in IT rules. It also reminded social media platforms of their requirement under IT rules to provide relevant information and assist law enforcement agencies. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has directed airport authorities nationwide to bolster security protocols.

60 threats on Monday
Indian airlines on October 28 received 60 bomb threats, following which security was ramped up at multiple airports.

Indigo: 21

Air India: 20

Vistara: 20