13-year-old held six days after IGI Airport bomb hoax

According to police, the boy said he created an email account, sent the bomb threat email and deleted the account, and was trying to imitate similar threats sent in the past month that he learnt about from a news channel

New Delhi

The bomb threat was made on June 17 for a Duba-bound flight on June 18. (Representative photo)

A 13-year-old boy was apprehended from Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand for allegedly sending an email to the Delhi airport falsely claiming that a bomb had been planted in a Dubai-bound flight on June 17, police said on Sunday.

The boy was apprehended and his custody was later handed over to his parents, deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani said. He sent the mail “just for fun” after being influenced by the news of another teenager who made a hoax bomb threat call a few days ago, the DCP said.

According to police, the boy said he created an email account, sent the bomb threat email and deleted the account. The mobile phone used in the offence, which was purchased by his parents recently to help him study, was seized.

Rangnani said that on June 17, the Delhi airport authorities lodged a complaint with the IGI Airport police regarding the bomb threat for the flight scheduled to Dubai on July 18. The Delhi airport was put on a high alert and a full emergency was declared. “The guidelines and protocol laid in the standard operative procedure (SOP) were properly followed to ensure the safety and security of the passengers. After proper verification, the threat email was found to be a hoax. A case was registered and investigation was taken up,” she said.

“Through technical investigation, investigators learnt that the email was sent through a mobile phone and the email account that was deleted immediately after the threat mail was sent. Further probe revealed the location of the sender in Pithoragarh. The sender turned out to be a 13-year-old Class 9 student. His parents were asked to produce him for investigation. Accordingly, he was apprehended and he confessed to sending the bomb threat email out of fun and excitement,” Rangnani said.