Suspect who issued hoax threats to airlines sent emails from Delhi: Police

Police in Maharashtra's Nagpur, who claimed to have identified the person behind a spate of hoax bomb threats at airports and other establishments across the country, on Wednesday said that as per their probe, the suspect sent the threat emails from Delhi.

Officials probing the case said the suspect, Jagdish Shriram Uikey (35), who has authored a book on terrorism and hails from Arjuni Morgaon in Gondia district of Maharashtra, has been living in the national capital since the past few years.  In the last two weeks, more than 510 domestic and international flights received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoax, causing major operational and financial distress for the airlines.  Most of the threats were issued through social media. An official of the Nagpur police earlier said the investigators found that Uikey sent emails to various government bodies, including the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Railway Minister, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, airline offices, the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

 

"Uikey has been living in Delhi since the past few years, from where he sent threat emails across the country. He has been identified as the culprit based on the emails he sent. The internet protocol (IP) address of the email sent to a central minister, as shared by Google, indicated that it was sent by Uikey. The probe found that the SIM card of his mobile phone was registered in his name and mentioned his Arjuni Morgaon address," the official said.  According to the police, the email sent by Uikey to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on October 21, which was also forwarded to the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) resulted in increased security measures at railway stations. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Nagpur Commissioner of Police Ravinder Singal said efforts were underway to trace Uikey and that he will be arrested soon.