Delhi Airport bomb scare: 13-year-old apprehended for sending threat email 'just for fun'

NEW DELHI: A 13-year-old boy was arrested on Sunday for allegedly sending an email to the Delhi Airport falsely claiming that a bomb had been planted in the Dubai-bound flight.
The boy had sent the mail "just for fun" after being influenced by the news of another teenager who made a hoax bomb threat call a few days ago, deputy commissioner of police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani told news agency PTI.
The airport DCP was referring to another incident that occurred this month when some other 13-year-old boy had allegedly sent a hoax email claiming a bomb was on a Toronto-bound Air Canada flight from Delhi. The boy had admitted that he also did it "just for fun" to test if he could be tracked down.
A Dubai-bound flight which was to take off from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) had received a bomb threat email on Monday.
However, the threat turned out to be a hoax as no bomb was found when the plane was checked.
Later, based on the complaint, an FIR was lodged, and the probe was launched. All the guidelines, protocols and SOPs were followed to ensure the safety and security of the passengers, DCP said.
"During the investigation, it was revealed that the e-mail ID was deleted just after sending the email. The email was traced at Pithoragarh in Uttranchal," Rangnani said.
A team was sent, and the boy was apprehended for sending the hoax email, she said.
"The boy told the police team that his parents had given a mobile to him for study purposes through which he sent the email and later deleted his ID. He did not share any information with his parents as he was scared. He was apprehended and handed over to his parents," she added.
These are not isolated incidents when the airport received hoax threats. On June 1, there was a bomb scare on a Varanasi-Delhi flight at the IGIA.
Earlier, a paper reading "bomb blast @5.30" found in an aircraft's lavatory had created chaos at IGI Airport, leading to the evacuation of all 176 passengers through emergency exits.
On May 16, a similar tissue paper saying "bomb" was found in the lavatory of Air India flight from Delhi to Vadodara at IGI Airport and all passengers were safely de-boarded. However, nothing suspicious was found after checking.
On Feb 27, a bomb threat was received for a Delhi-Kolkata flight, but the threat later turned out to be a hoax. The flight finally departed after a delay of six-and-a-half-hour.