Noida astrologer held for hoax RDX threat to Mumbai

A Bihar astrologer was arrested for sending a hoax bomb threat via WhatsApp to Mumbai police, claiming 400 kg of RDX would cause mass casualties.

A 51-year-old astrologer and Vastu Shastra expert from Bihar was arrested late Saturday night in Noida for allegedly sending a hoax WhatsApp message to the Mumbai traffic police control room, threatening blasts using 400 kilograms of RDX during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, senior police officials confirmed.

The threat message, officials said, claimed that 34 vehicles loaded with 400 kg of RDX and 14 “Lashkar-e-Jihadi” terrorists had been planted across Mumbai. (File photo)

The suspect, identified as Ashwini Kumar Supra, was arrested from his Sector 79 residence in Civitech Stadia with help from Noida police and handed over to Mumbai Crime Branch officials, who flew him to Mumbai around 7am Saturday. Police said Supra, an MA pass-out originally from Patliputra in Patna, lives with his parents in Noida after separating from his wife.

The threat message, officials said, claimed that 34 vehicles loaded with 400 kg of RDX and 14 “Lashkar-e-Jihadi” terrorists had been planted across Mumbai, warning of blasts that could “kill one crore people”. Mumbai remained on high alert from Friday.

Gautam Budh Nagar Commissioner of Police (ADG) Laxmi Singh said she received a call from the Joint Commissioner of Mumbai (Crime) on Friday evening. “The Mumbai police already arrived in the city on Friday, but as the suspect switched off his mobile phone, it was hard for them to proceed further,” said a senior officer, requesting anonymity. A special team under additional commissioner of police Rajeev Narayan Mishra and SWAT in charge Yatendra traced the suspect through SIM vendors, CCTV footage, and a grocery delivery boy’s testimony. Supra was detained around 11pm.

Initially denying involvement, he confessed when confronted with evidence. “The suspect revealed during interrogation that he had a money-related dispute with a Patna-based friend, and he planned the threat to frame him in the false case,” Mishra said. Supra had earlier spent three months in jail after his friend Firoz filed a case against him at Phulwari Sharif police station in Patna in 2023.

Police recovered seven mobile phones, three SIM cards, four SIM card holders, and two memory cards. He was handed over to Inspector Milind Kate of Mumbai police. A case has been registered at Worli police station under Section 351 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for issuing threats intended to cause fear for life, property or safety.