A Mumbai-bound IndiGo flight from Chennai received a bomb threat message on Tuesday.IndiGo confirmed the bomb threat, stating that protocols were followed and all passengers disembarked safely. "IndiGo flight 6E 5149 from Chennai to Mumbai received a bomb threat. Upon landing, the crew followed protocol, and the aircraft was moved to an isolation bay," the airline stated. All passengers were safely evacuated, and the airline is collaborating with security agencies. Once all security checks are complete, the aircraft will return to the terminal.
Earlier in the day, many other airports, including Chennai, Varanasi, Jaipur, and Patna, received bomb threat emails. However, each was found to be a hoax when authorities scrambled contingency measures and carried out hours-long anti-sabotage checks. According to officials, the airports in Varanasi, Chennai, Patna, Nagpur, Jaipur, Vadodara, Coimbatore, and Jabalpur were among those that received the hoax threats.
An online group called "KNR" is suspected to be behind these hoax threat emails. The group reportedly issued similar emails to several schools in the Delhi-NCR on May 1, sources told PTI. The emails received by the airports carried almost the identical message: “Hello, there are explosives hidden in the Airport. The bombs will soon explode. You will all die.” On Monday, a Dubai-bound plane also received a bomb threat via email at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi, said authorities, adding that nothing suspicious was found when the flight was checked.