'Message about pipe bomb': Air India's Delhi-Indore-Mumbai flight gets hoax threat

A social media post warning about a bomb on an Air India flight connecting Delhi to Mumbai through Indore was later confirmed to be false by authorities on Wednesday.

Law enforcement in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, initiated legal proceedings against an unknown individual responsible for the false alarm.

According to an Aerodrome police station official, citing an airline representative's complaint, a "threatening message" about a pipe bomb on Air India flight AI 636 appeared on X at 5:08 pm Tuesday. The aircraft had already departed Indore for Mumbai at 4:38 pm after arriving from Delhi.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Vinod Kumar Meena told PTI, "The message about a pipe bomb being placed in the Air India flight was proved to be fake in our investigation."

Officials filed charges against the unidentified person under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 351 (4), which addresses criminal intimidation through identity concealment. The investigation continues.

Sources indicate that various Indian airlines received over 100 bomb threats on Tuesday alone.

Reports show that in a 16-day period, more than 510 domestic and international flights received threats, all proving to be false alarms. These threats were primarily distributed through social media platforms.

In response, the civil aviation ministry is exploring stricter measures to counteract hoax threats, including possible no-fly listings for offenders.

The IT ministry has also instructed platforms such as X and Meta to remove or block misinformation swiftly.