An IndiGo flight traveling from Chennai to Mumbai landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) at 10:24 pm on Tuesday under a full emergency protocol due to a bomb threat. The aircraft, flight number 6E 5149, carried 196 passengers and seven crew members.
Upon landing, the plane was directed to an isolation bay where it underwent a thorough inspection by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. According to an IndiGo spokesperson, all passengers safely disembarked from the aircraft. “We are coordinating closely with security agencies. Once all security checks are completed, the aircraft will be returned to the terminal,” the spokesperson stated.
This incident occurred amidst a broader wave of bomb threat emails received by 41 airports nationwide, including CSMIA, triggering extensive anti-sabotage checks and contingency measures. Fortunately, investigations revealed these threats to be hoaxes. Sources at Mumbai airport confirmed that flight operations remained unaffected as the threats were deemed non-specific.
Authorities suspect an online group named “KNR” to be behind these hoax emails. Similar incidents had occurred recently: an Akasa Air flight from Delhi to Mumbai was diverted to Ahmedabad on June 3 due to a bomb threat, and on June 2, a Vistara flight from Paris to Mumbai experienced a similar scare.
Beyond aviation, approximately 60 hospitals in Mumbai also received hoax bomb threat emails over the past two days, affecting both private and public healthcare institutions. The hospitals promptly alerted local police and conducted thorough searches, but no explosives were found.
These emails, sent via Virtual Private Network (VPN), warned of bombs hidden under beds and in toilets across hospitals such as Jaslok Hospital, SL Raheja Hospital, SevenHills Hospital, and others. Police investigations into these incidents are ongoing.