New Delhi: In light of a surge in hoax bomb threats targeting domestic and international flights, the central government has taken a strong stance against social media platform X, accusing it of "abetting the crime." The threats have plagued major Indian airlines, including IndiGo, Vistara, and Air India, for over a week, prompting a virtual meeting led by Joint Secretary Sanket S. Bhondve from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITy) on October 22.
During the meeting, Bhondve expressed concerns about the threats and specifically addressed X's role in the situation. On Tuesday alone, nearly 80 flights received bomb threats that were later confirmed as hoaxes, affecting thousands of passengers and incurring an estimated loss of around ₹600 crore for the airlines. Among the flights threatened were 13 from IndiGo and Air India, over 12 from Akasa Air, and 11 from Vistara.
In total, more than 170 flights operated by Indian carriers have faced threats in the past nine days, primarily through social media. These incidents have resulted in the diversion of some international flights, with disruptions costing domestic airlines about ₹1.5 crore per flight and international airlines approximately ₹5-5.5 crore.
The Delhi Police have filed eight FIRs related to these bomb threats, which originated from anonymous posts on X. Investigations revealed that three accounts—@adamlanza111, @psychotichuman, and @schizobomer777—were involved in posting the threat messages. Officials suspect that the perpetrators used VPNs or dark web browsers to create the accounts.
In response to the situation, the government is considering legislative actions to address bomb threats to airlines, including placing offenders on a no-fly list.
