Police in Maharashtra’s Nagpur have identified a 35-year-old man from Gondia in the state as the person behind a spate of hoax bomb threats that triggered panic, caused flight delays and led to increased security at airports and other establishments, an official said.
The Nagpur city police’s special branch has identified the man as Jagdish Uikey, an author of a book on terrorism, who was arrested in 2021 in a case, he said. “Uikey is currently on the run after these emails were traced back to him,” the senior police official said.
The investigation, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Shweta Khedkar uncovered detailed information linking Uikey to the emails. Uikey sent emails to various government bodies, including the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Railway Minister, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy, airline offices, the Director General of Police (DGP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF), the official said.
On Monday, the Nagpur police stepped up security outside Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s residence in the city after Uikey sent an email threatening to protest unless given a chance to present his information on the secret terror code he claimed to have deciphered.