A Kerala resident was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday for sending a threatening email to the Mumbai International Airport Limited. The arrested man, whose identity remains undisclosed, reportedly threatened to blow up the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport if he was not paid "one million US dollars in Bitcoin."
The man remains under the custody of the Sahar Police after being brought to Mumbai.
It was around 11:05 AM on November 23, Thursday, that the said mail landed in the Mumbai International Airport Limited's feedback inbox. It said that Terminal 2 of the Mumbai airport would witness a blast if "one million US dollars in Bitcoin" was not delivered within 48 hours.
Soon, the airport authority alerted the ATS, who launched a probe. The ATS cybercell successfully traced the IP address of the sender to Kerala, following which a team flew to the southern state and nabbed the accused.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered under IPC sections 385 (putting a person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) and 505 (1) (b) (statements made with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public or against the public tranquillity) at the Sahar police station, the PTI report said.