15-yr-old UP boy detained for making prank call on bomb threat

A 15-year-old from Kanpur district in Uttar Pradesh triggered a major security scare when he made a prank call to the Pune airport claiming that he had information that 40 planes would be bombed while flying over residential areas of the city.

The teenager has been traced through electronic surveillance and detained for questioning.

A case has been filed against him under section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Officers involved in the investigation said the teenager made the call because he “wanted to become famous”.

He got the idea after watching Palestine-Israel war videos. He used his father’s mobile phone to search the number of IndiGo’s registered office at the Pune airport to make the threat call on January 11.

After receiving the call, authorities at IndiGo informed Delhi Police who in turn alerted the Intelligence Bureau, which passed the information to the Uttar Pradesh director general of police.

The Kanpur police swung into action and roped in the crime branch to crack the case.

During investigation, the location of the mobile phone was traced to the Sen Paschim Para area of the district. The crime branch team reached the spot and found that the call was made by the teenager.

He lives in a rented house with his family and is originally from Kushinagar.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Salman Taj Patil said, “We have taken the boy in police custody and seized the mobile phone. No threat has been found in the primary investigation. The boy took the step out of ignorance. He will be sent back home after counselling his parents and other family members.”