Ghaziabad man held for hoax bomb threats to govt agencies

A 36-year-old man was arrested for sending hoax bomb threats to various agencies, including the NIA, causing security chaos; motive unclear.

New Delhi: A 36-year-old man has been apprehended from Ghaziabad for allegedly sending hoax bomb threats to several agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Indira Gandhi International Airport, earlier this week, an officer said on Friday.

Police said the motive behind sending the hoax e-mails is yet to be known. (Photo for representation)

On Monday, hoax e-mails were received by the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), among others, leading to chaos and rushed security checks.

After security checks, all the e-mails were declared as hoaxes. “Police analysed the e-mail trail and zeroed in on two Gmail accounts. Detailed technical analysis was carried out, leading to the identification of the mobile number linked to the e-mail accounts,” said DCP (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma.

The mobile number was found active in Delhi-NCR, and the accused was finally traced to his residence in Govind Nagar, Ghaziabad, and apprehended on Wednesday.

“We found that he has been suffering from some illness since 2008 and has undergone treatment at various medical institutions. His family members also informed about his long-standing medical condition. No explosives or suspicious articles have been recovered from his possession,” said the DCP.

Police said the motive behind sending the hoax e-mails is yet to be known.

The accused had searched for the e-mail IDs of all the agencies on Google and used different e-mail IDs to send the threats, the DCP added.