A 35-year-old man, who was allegedly behind a series of fake bomb threats against airports and railway stations across the country, was arrested after appearing before the Nagpur Police, PTI reported.

Jagdish Shriam Uikey, a resident of Arjuni Morgaon in eastern Maharashtra’s Gondia district, arrived in Nagpur by plane after the police sent him a notice asking him to be present for investigation and surrendered himself on the evening of October 31, an official said on November 1. Jagdish operates from Delhi, police said.

In the last two weeks of October, security forces conducted over 510 domestic and international flights and received threats that later turned out to be false. The threats were made mostly via social media, leading to widespread concerns about the potential consequences for passenger safety and national security. On October 22, around 50 flights received fake bomb threat calls, including 13 from IndiGo and Air India.

An email that Jagdish allegedly sent to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and railway police officials on October 21 had also led to increased security measures at railway stations.

He allegedly made a phone call reporting the fake bomb threat in 2021 and was later arrested. After his release, Arjuni left Morgaon and told his close friends that he had moved to Delhi, according to the PTI report.

The report stated that investigators, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Shweta Khedkar, targeted him based on emails he sent to various organisations.

Jagdish studied up to Std XI and wrote a book on terrorism titled ‘Aaatankwad – Ek Tufaani Rakshas’.

New norms to check fake bomb threats

Meanwhile, a new set of guidance for civil aviation security and intelligence agencies has been published by the Bureau of Civil Aviation (BCAS) in view of “evolving security issues”, particularly the “emerging trend” of issuing hoax bomb threats via various social media. platforms.

Pseudonymity or anonymity of usage on social media, analysis of geopolitical situation and presence of VIPs on board are some of the new criteria that agencies will keep in mind while assessing the seriousness of bomb threat to Indian airlines.

Under current practice, a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) meets at a designated airport to analyze a bomb or security threat to an airline, airport, or any part of the aviation ecosystem that has been decided to be declared “special” or serious. or “non-specific” or hoax.