The Social media handle on X, through which some of the bomb threats to flights were issued, have been suspended.
"IP addresses are being traced", "a call to social media houses" to made, "Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) teams brought in", are among the various measures taken by the security officials at Delhi to curb the Hoax security threat to flights, and nab the culprit(s), which experts are even calling to investigate the angle of Terrorism involved in it.
According to sources, more than 20 flights of Indian carriers received bomb threats on Sunday (October 20, 2024), around 30 flights operated by Indian airlines received bomb threats on Saturday while an excess of 70 domestic and international flights have been reported to receive bomb threats during last six days.
IndiGo, Vistara, Air India and Akasa Air are among the airlines to have received bomb threats, including international flights.Six flights each of IndiGo, Vistara and Air India received the threats on Sunday.
These incidents have created an atmosphere of fear and inconvenience among the passengers, while putting additional pressure on the airlines and security agencies.
In this context, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other related agencies are constantly trying to resolve this problem as soon as possible.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Safety (BCAS) also held a meeting with domestic airline chief executives amid a spike in hoax bomb threats to flights.
BCAS Director General Zulfiquar Hasan convened the meeting at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in Delhi, the headquarters of the Airports Authority of India. During this discussion, Hassan assured the airline that all safety protocols and standard operating procedures are being strictly followed.
After these series of security threats, the head of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Vikram Dev Dutt, has been transferred.
Delhi Police have reached out to social media platforms, including X, seeking information about accounts posting fake bomb threats that have disrupted multiple domestic and international flights this week. As per the information, 46 of 70 bomb threats to Indian airlines came from one X account. Handle suspended.
A dedicated team has been formed to investigate these bomb threat cases, with the cyber cell of Delhi police and Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) also joining the probe.
Delhi Police is coming closer to nab the culprits as they suspect that the perpetrator used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or dark web browser to set up multiple accounts and post threatening messages.
In different statements, an IndiGo spokesperson said the carrier is cognisant of a situation involving flight 6E 58 (Jeddah to Mumbai), 6E87 (Kozhikode to Dammam), 6E11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E133 (Pune to Jodhpur) and 6E112 operating (Goa to Ahmedabad) on Sunday.
Vistara said it got security threats for six flights -- UK25 (Delhi to Frankfurt), UK106 (Singapore to Mumbai), UK146 (Bali to Delhi), UK116 (Singapore to Delhi), UK110 (Singapore to Pune) and UK107 (Mumbai to Singapore).
"In line with the protocols, all relevant authorities were immediately notified, and security procedures, as directed by them, are being carried out," a Vistara spokesperson said in a statement.
Inconvenience to the passengers is always there, it's also to be noted that a lot of time and money have to be spent in completing the investigation and protocol, irrespective of the nature of security threat or country involved.
As per sources from India, more than INR 3 crore is lost on each such threat. According to an estimate, these series of threats have caused a loss of more than Rs 200 crore so far.
These hoax security threats used to occur on Indian carriers as an "one off" starting May month this year, but has peaked recently to create chaos among travelers and induce crisis in various Airports.
Many aviation experts suggest, this could be a work of radicals or antisocial elements, those have a negative stand for India and the current Government, as the threats are Country specific.
Few of the security threat examples included mid-air bomb threats, turned out to be hoax at a later stage, while one of them even saw a threat made on a Toilet paper to scare the flight.
The Government of India is also planning to take strict measures to stop these fake bomb threats. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, along with other related ministries, is working towards amending the Aircraft Act-1934 and Aircraft Rules-1937.
Under this amendment, it is being recommended to give 5 years of punishment and put them in the no-fly list to those who give fake threats. A committee will be formed in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Home Affairs, which will draft this amendment.
Display Picture Credit : Matthew Thomas / Live Trivandrum
