13-yr-old detained for sending bomb threat to Delhi's IGI airport

NEW DELHI: A 13-year-old boy was apprehended for sending a hoax bomb threat email to IGI Airport on June 17. The claim that there was a bomb on a Delhi-Dubai flight turned out to be a hoax. The boy was inspired by a similar incident involving another child a few days earlier, which he had seen on social media. He claimed to have sent the email purely for fun.
Police said that on June 17, they received a complaint from DIAL (Security & Vigilance) regarding a bomb threat email targeting a flight scheduled from Delhi to Dubai, leading to the registration of a case.
According to deputy commissioner of police (IGI) Usha Rangnani, the airport was placed on high alert and a full emergency was declared due to the severity of the threat. "The guidelines and protocols outlined in the SOP were strictly adhered to, ensuring the safety and security of all passengers at the airport. Subsequent investigations confirmed that the threat email was a hoax," she stated.
A dedicated team, led by SHO (IGI) Vijender Rana, was formed to investigate the case. "During the investigation, it was discovered that the sender's email ID was deleted immediately after sending the email," the officer explained. Technical surveillance traced the origin of the email to Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, and the suspect was identified as a 13-year-old boy, a Class IX student. The boy used a phone provided by his parents for studying to send the email and promptly deleted the address, believing he could remain anonymous.
"The boy claimed he did it for fun and excitement but did not inform his parents out of fear," the officer said. The mobile phone linked to the hoax threat email was seized by the police, and the boy was handed over to his parents.
This incident marks the second case of a 13-year-old boy being apprehended for sending a hoax email to IGI Airport in June. Earlier, another boy had sent a threat email claiming that there was a bomb on a flight scheduled from Delhi to Toronto on June 4, allegedly sending the email 'just for fun' to test if the authorities could trace him.