The Mumbai-Howrah Mail received a threat message to blow up the train around 4:00 AM on Monday. "You people will cry tears of blood this morning," the threat message read, warning of a bomb blast before the train reached Nashik in Maharashtra. Three airlines, including a New York-bound flight, also received bomb threat messages on Monday.
The train was halted at the Jalgaon Railway Station in Maharashtra and was thoroughly checked. "Mumbai-Howrah Mail received a threat to blow up the train with a timer bomb. Around 4:00 AM, off-control received this message. Train number 12809 was stopped at Jalgaon station and checked. No suspicious object was found in it. After this, the train proceeded towards the destination," the CPRO, Central Railway, said.
The Air India flight carrying nearly 240 passengers from Mumbai was diverted to Delhi. It has now been rescheduled to October 15 and all guests have been moved to hotels. In an official statement, Air India said, "Flight AI119 operating Mumbai to JFK on October 14 received a specific security alert and on instructions of the government's security regulatory committee was diverted to Delhi."
"All passengers have disembarked and are at the Delhi airport terminal. Our colleagues on the ground are making sure to minimise the inconvenience caused to our guests by this unexpected disruption," it added
Two IndiGo flights, one from Mumbai to Muscat in Oman and another to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, also received bomb threats.
The IndiGo flight operating from Mumbai to Jeddah was taken to an isolated bay after receiving the threat message. "Mandatory security checks were promptly initiated," an Indigo spokesperson said. Another IndiGo flight that received the threat call was heading to Muscat from Mumbai.