On Friday, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) apprehended a resident of Kerala on charges of making threats to detonate the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The individual reportedly demanded a payment of one million US dollars in Bitcoin to refrain from carrying out the alleged threat.
The ATS started probe after the Mumbai International Airport Limited, which operates the airport, received a threatening email in its feedback inbox at 11.06 am on Thursday, the police official said. This is a final warning to your airport. We will blast Terminal 2 in 48 hours unless one million US dollars in Bitcoin is transferred to the address. Another alert will be after 24 Hrs, the email read.
An FIR was filed at the Sahar police station, invoking sections 385 and 505(1)(b) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 385 pertains to instilling fear of injury for the purpose of extortion, while section 505(1)(b) deals with making statements with the intent to cause fear or alarm to the public or disturb public tranquility.
Conducting a simultaneous investigation, the ATS cyber cell successfully traced the IP address associated with the threatening email to Kerala. Subsequently, a team was dispatched to the southern state, where they apprehended the accused. He was being brought to Mumbai and would be handed over to Sahar Police, the official said without disclosing the accused's identity.