India says 'enough' after fake bomb threats against almost 100 flights

India vowed to punish those responsible for hoax bomb threats that have disrupted dozens of flights and caused airlines huge financial losses.

NEW DELHI — India has vowed to punish those responsible for hoax bomb threats that disrupted dozens of flights in recent days, resulting in huge financial losses for airlines and hours of delays for passengers whose flights were sometimes escorted by fighter jets.

More than 90 flights from Indian airports have received bomb threats in just over a week, including about 50 on Saturday and Sunday alone, according to local media reports. Though they were mainly directed at airlines based in India, they also affected international airlines and included both domestic flights as well as flights to the United States and other overseas destinations.

The unprecedented scale of the false threats, most of which were made on social media platforms such as X, has sent regulators scrambling for solutions.

“Safety and security is the foremost aspect,” the Indian aviation minister, Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, told reporters Monday, adding that authorities are considering putting perpetrators on a no-fly list. “Even (if) one plane gets diverted, it’s not what we want.” 

But it remains largely unclear who was behind the threats and what the motive was. Authorities said they had made one arrest but dismissed the possibility of a larger conspiracy.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/india-fake-bomb-threats-almost-100-flights-rcna176340

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