Bomb hoax: 13-yr-old sent e-mail ‘just for fun’

New Delhi, June 11

A 13-year-old boy was apprehended for sending a hoax bomb threat on e-mail concerning a flight scheduled from Delhi to Toronto, police officials said on Tuesday.

The young offender had sent the e-mail “just for fun” to see if he could evade detection, according to police officials.

On the night of June 4, at 11:25 pm, the IGI Airport Police Station had received a PCR call regarding a bomb threat e-mail for Air Canada Flight, set to depart from Delhi to Toronto.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, IGI Airport, Usha Rangnani said, “The e-mail ID used to send the threat was newly created just hours before the e-mail was sent and subsequently deleted.” The source of the e-mail was traced to Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

“Upon further investigation, it was discovered that a 13-year-old boy was behind the hoax. The boy got the idea from a news report about a hoax bomb call at Mumbai Airport. He wanted to see if he could be traced by the police if he made a similar call.” the DCP said.

“The boy created a fake e-mail ID on his mobile phone and used his mother’s mobile internet via Wi-Fi to send the e-mail. He deleted the e-mail ID immediately after sending the threat.” an official said.

Following his apprehension, the boy was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and subsequently handed over to his parents.

Two mobile phones linked to the hoax threat e-mail transmission were seized.