Mumbai – Indradev Pandey
The Sahar police detained two individuals for allegedly making a hoax bomb threat that led to the diversion of Air India flight AI119, en route from Mumbai to New York, to Delhi on Monday. According to the police, the accused were detained in Chhattisgarh on October 14 and brought to Mumbai on Tuesday.
The accused have been identified as Nirban Fazluddin, 33, and a minor, both from Chhattisgarh. The minor was presented before the Juvenile Court in Mumbai, which sent him to four days of juvenile custody. Police are interrogating Fazluddin and investigating the motive behind the threat.
The bomb threat, issued via a tweet on Monday through the social media platform X. One of the posts claimed that “six terrorists with 6kg of RDX”, prompted authorities to divert the flight to Delhi, where a thorough search of the Boeing 777 was conducted. No suspicious items were found. The flight, which had departed from Mumbai at 2.27 a.m., was diverted shortly after takeoff. All passengers disembarked safely in Delhi, where they are being assisted by Air India staff. The accused posted a series of threatening messages on social media. The accused posted threatening messages between 1.32. am and 3.09 am on Monday using the handles @fazluddin69 and @fazluddin27077.
Statement Of DCP Manish Kalwaniya
DCP Manish Kalwaniya stated, “We are investigating the motive behind the threat, and so far, no prior criminal records of the accused have been revealed. Fazluddin is a small-time businessman.”
A 5-member team, led by an Inspector-ranked officer, tracked the digital footprint of the threat to Raipur and proceeded to Rajnandgaon district. The team is working closely with Chhattisgarh Police, including Rajnandgaon Range Inspector General Deepak Kumar Jha and Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg.
Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Police, Zone-8, Maneesh Kalwaniya, has been in constant coordination with Chhattisgarh authorities since the investigation led to Rajnandgaon. The Rajnandgaon Police’s Cyber Team acted on inputs from DCP Kalwaniya and his team and detained the two individuals from the Gudakhu Lane area.
“We are exploring all angles to ensure there are no further security threats,” the official concluded. An FIR was registered at Sahar police station under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Aviation Security Act.
