Bomb threats

BOMB threats have become alarmingly frequent across the country in recent weeks, even though all have turned out to be hoaxes. Tissue paper with ‘bomb@5.30’ written on it was found in the lavatory of an IndiGo plane at the Delhi airport on Tuesday morning. The authorities promptly evacuated the crew and passengers and launched a search operation. No suspicious item was found, even as an investigation is in progress. The incident took place a day after the Mumbai traffic police received a message on their WhatsApp helpline number, claiming that bombs had been planted at the Mumbai airport and Hotel Taj Mahal. A thorough search drew a blank at both places.

In recent months, scores of schools in Delhi-NCR, Kanpur, Lucknow, Jaipur, Kolkata and other cities have been rocked by bomb threat emails. Probe agencies have their work cut out — they have to find out which individuals/gangs are involved in these nefarious activities, where they are based and whether a common thread runs through these threats, which must not be dismissed as mere mischief. The Delhi Police have traced the IP address of emails sent to 150-odd schools to Budapest, Hungary. A Cyprus-based mailing service company has been identified as the source of threatening emails sent to hospitals, the IGI Airport and Tihar Jail in Delhi earlier this month.

The ongoing probe into various cases indicates that gangs of cybercriminals residing in foreign countries are causing widespread disruptions in India with ease. They are apparently working in league with miscreants based in India. There is no room for complacency, especially amid the Lok Sabha elections. Every city needs to be adequately equipped with bomb detection and disposal squads. A comprehensive action plan should be formulated and implemented so that panic and chaos induced by the threats are minimised. All stakeholders must be well prepared for the worst-case scenario — after all, not every such email/call/message may prove to be a hoax.