Several Delhi schools woke up to a series of bomb threats this morning. This is the second such incident in one week. The police have not found anything suspicious and this too like the last incident may pass off as a hoax.
The threat email to the schools read that there are several explosives in the schools’ premises. There is a secret dark web group that is involved in this, the mail also read, while adding that the bombs are powerful enough to destroy the buildings and harm people.
A new trend
While hoax bomb calls have always existed, this trend has seen a jump in the last couple of years. This year in fact was a terrible one for the airlines as they faced a series of such threats forcing them to restructure operations. This has indeed led to severe losses and caused immense inconvenience to the flyers.
The data provided by the government in the Rajya Sabha tells how grave this problem is. Airlines in the country received 719 hoax bomb calls in 2024 alone. The Rajya Sabha was also told that in the last five years the number stood at 809. This is a clear indicator that this year alone has contributed to the massive jump in numbers.
In the year 2020 just four such incidents were reported and for the year 2021 the number was at two. In 2022 the airlines in the country reported 13 hoax bomb threat messages and the year 2023 reported 71 such calls.
Is there a larger message or are these just pranks
The question before the security agencies is whether there is a larger message behind these hoax bomb calls or are many of them threats. Whatever the case may be it is something that cannot be ignored and a standard protocol has to be followed until it is confirmed that the call was indeed a hoax.
An Intelligence Bureau officer tells Organiser that some are just prank calls while most others have a bigger meaning. There have also been instances when a person has made a hoax call just to delay the departure of an airline because her or she is running late to the airport.
However the recent cases suggest that there is a larger conspiracy. This year the airline industry has had a tough time thanks to such calls. This year in a span of nine days 130 hoax bomb calls were made to the airlines. In October the number stood at 24. The callers have not targeted one specific airline alone. Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, SpiceJet, Star Air, Alliance Air and even international flights have all been victims of such calls.
These calls look like that they were a targeted operation aimed at hurting the airline industry. Emergency landings due to such calls are a major hassle. Passengers have to be evacuated quickly and this can often lead to minor injuries if precaution is not exercised. The entire baggage needs to be offloaded and screened and all this is very time consuming and stressful.
While these elements making these hoax calls hurt the economics of the aviation industry, it also affects the sustainability of an airline. If one looks at the sustained manner in which these calls have been made, it is clear that there is a larger conspiracy to this which is aimed at not only causing damage to the industry but also spreading terror among the people. This too is one form of terrorism where panic is created without having to invest in a bomb.
The loss caused to the airline industry is clear from the statistics available. Until October 2024 the total loss caused to the industry stood at Rs 500 crore. A diversion of a domestic flight causes a loss in the range of R 13 to Rs 17 lakh an hour. In the case of an international flight the loss ideally is five times the amount when compared to a domestic airline.
Why are schools targeted
Targeting schools with hoax calls causes much more panic when compared to the airlines. Not only does it drive fear in the minds of the children, but causes major panic among the parents.
The staff too come under stress as it is their responsibility to make sure that the children are safe. These calls too could be part of a sustained effort to terrorise the public.
The hoax bomb call puts severe stress on the machinery. The school has to remain closed until there is a clearance from the agencies. Most of the time these things take time and this leads to the management declaring a holiday. Declaring unscheduled holidays also affects the academics of the students. Further it also causes ill-will for the school and also gives them bad publicity.
Looking at all these factors one cannot brush such calls under the carpet stating that they are undertaken by pranksters. An official says that at first they targeted the airlines and now it is the schools. This is indeed a new form of terrorism where there is no investment, but the motive to create terror is achieved.
The way forward
In the aftermath of these calls there have been several measures that have been taken. Standard Operating Procedures have been tweaked and protocols have changed. However these measures help in the aftermath of such incidents. What is needed is a way to prevent such callers from making these threats.
Several experts have said that there are three factors to keep in mind while dealing with such a situation. One has to address the systematic problems and also invest more into technology. Further the approach should be more towards deterrence and creating awareness.
The agencies which probe these cases have found that there are deficiencies in guidelines, training, technology, communication, standardised procedures and regulatory enforcement.
There is an urgent need to invest more in advanced call tracking and AI powered call analysis. Further investments also have to be made to enhance voce stress analysis and comprehensive threat analysis systems.
The experts also suggest that better quantum computing and aviation cybersecurity frameworks could help in fighting this menace. AI powered chatbots for psychological profiling and threat assessment of callers would help in understanding both the motivations and threat levels.
It would also be helpful to establish a global hoax call database and announce a rewards programme for informers which would in turn encourage the reporting of such calls. If such a database is established then tracking becomes easier and the photos of these hoax callers can be displayed at airports and also shared widely on the social media.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security has mandated robust protocols for handling such threats. He also said that a detailed contingency plan called the Bomb Threat Contingency Plan is in place to handle such threats. Advisories have also been issued to civil aviation stakeholders to prevent any unlawful interference with civil aviation the minister also said.
Further the government is looking to amend the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act. This would enable the law enforcement agencies to invoke this law against people who make hoax bomb threats about aircraft at airports.
On their part the central agencies have approached VPN service providers to trace the bomb hoax calls. This was done after it was found that the IP addresses of these callers are located in countries such as Germany and London.
Further the security agencies have also reached out to the FBI and Interpol to help trace the hoax bomb callers.
