’Pranksters, minors behind hoax bomb threats to flights’: Govt mulls no-fly list option against perpetrators

The civil aviation ministry is mulling strict sanctions against perpetrators after a barrage of hoax bomb threats disrupted flights this week. At least 25 flights operated by various Indian airlines — including some travelling to foreign destinations — received bomb threats during a span of four days.

“Action is being taken on this. We can't comment on any kind of a conspiracy but from whatever little bit we know these calls are coming from some minors and pranksters. These are all minor and isolated incidents. There is no kind of conspiracy that we can comment on,” Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu assured on Thursday.

The top official said efforts were underway to tackle the newly emerged threat.

“We are talking to the airlines, security agencies, within the ministry also. Consultations are going on,” he added.

Current aviation regulations do not have any specific provisions to deal with cases wherein a bomb threat has come from outside sources such as social media. Officials indicated that the Ministry is now looking to amend existing rules — including those related to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.

One of the sanctions that are being considered by officials is the placement of individuals making hoax bomb threats on the airlines' no-fly list. The official also said legal opinions are being sought with respect to making the changes in the rules.

The remarks came less than a day after the Mumbai Police detained a 17-year-old boy from Chhattisgarh in connection with bomb hoax threats posted on social media targeting three flights on October 14. Officials said that prima facie a financial dispute with a shopkeeper prompted the boy to create a social media account on X and post these tweets.

Three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats on Monday. While a New York-bound Air India flight was diverted to New Delhi and rescheduled, the other two to Muscat and Jeddah, both operated by IndiGo, were delayed by several hours as the planes were moved to isolation bays for security checks.

(With inputs from agencies)