NEW DELHI (AP) — The Indian government is planning to implement a new law to punish individuals who make hoax bomb threats against flights, causing disruptions to airline schedules and inconveniencing thousands of passengers.
In less than two weeks, over 120 flights operated by Indian airlines have reportedly received bomb threats, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan announced on Monday that the government intends to introduce legislation that would place offenders on a no-fly list and modify the 1982 Civil Aviation Act to allow for their arrest and investigation without a court order.
IndiGo, a private Indian airline, stated on Tuesday that nine of its flights bound for Jeddah and Dammam in Saudi Arabia, as well as some flights from Turkey, had received hoax calls. These flights were diverted to the nearest airports for security checks.
“We cooperated closely with the relevant authorities and followed standard operating procedures,” the airline said in a statement.
The perpetrators of these hoaxes have mostly evaded capture thus far. The Mumbai police revealed that they apprehended a 17-year-old boy from eastern Chhattisgarh state on Wednesday for allegedly posting bomb threat messages on the social media accounts of various airlines.
Police officer Maneesh Kalwaniya stated that the boy’s motive was to frame another individual involved in a business dispute with him.
According to the Press Trust of India, 30 domestic and international flights operated by Indian airlines, including IndiGo, Vistara, and Air India, received bomb threats on Monday night alone.
“Even though bomb threats are false alarms, they must be taken seriously,” Rammohan emphasized.