Amid a spurt in hoax e-mails on bombs in planes and at airports across the nation, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is reportedly mulling a five-year flying ban on people who send such threats. According to a report by news website NDTV, the BCAS is likely to propose rules on the same soon because of the rise in such cases.
The report quoted Director General of BCAS Zulfiquar Hasan as saying that 6 people have been arrested recently for issuing fake threats of bombings. News website Times Now reported that the suspects and the incidents are being investigated. The BCAS will soon approach the Ministry of Civil Aviation with the proposal. At present, there is a flying ban of a maximum of six months.
As many as 46 airports and hospitals were sent bomb threat e-mails on Tuesday afternoon. The mail read: "There are explosives hidden in the airport. The bombs will soon explode. You will all die." Later in the evening, a threat mail was received about the presence of a bomb on a Chennai-Mumbai Indigo flight.
Last month, more than 60 schools in the Delhi-NCR area received hoax calls. Hoax calls drain a lot of resources and involve a massive mobilisation of security, safety, and facility personnel to ensure the safety of the public. These are in addition to causing delays in services and inconvenience to the public. Last month's bomb threat to the Delhi-NCR schools led to the early closure of the institutes, causing severe inconvenience and worry for students and their parents.
India has seen a rise in such hoax bomb threats, earlier this month, a 13-year-old boy from Meerut was identified as the source of a false bomb threat he had sent by email regarding an Air Canada flight from IGI Airport to Toronto. According to an IANS report, the teenager sent the mail “just for fun” and to see whether he could be traced. The boy was detained but later handed over to his parents.
According to the Indian Penal Code (IPC) giving false information knowingly is punishable under Section 203, which carries a maximum sentence of a jail term of two years or a fine.