Mumbai/Noida: Amid Ganpati festivities, hoax bomb threats were sent to govt-run Nair hospital and the city airport over the weekend. Police have lodged non-cognisable complaints in both cases.The threats came on the heels of traffic police’s helpline receiving a message on Friday that 34 “human bombs” had been planted in the city. A 50-year-old astrologer from Noida has been arrested by Mumbai police’s crime branch for allegedly sending that threat to take revenge on a former friend in Bihar. An Agripada police officer said an email warning of bombs was sent to Nair hospital’s dean around 11pm on Saturday. The hospital administration and police responded swiftly. “The bomb detection and disposal found no suspicious object or evidence of explosives. Police are trying to track down the source of the email,” said the officer. The city airport received a similar email a day prior. Sahar police found that threat to be fake, too. Police said the suspect in the hoax human bombs case, Ashwini Kumar, moved to Noida from Patna five years ago and set up an astrology business. In 2023, a friend, Firoz Ahmed, had filed a cheating case against him in Bihar’s Phulwarisharif, following which he spent four months in jail. Nursing a deep grudge and looking for an opportunity to hit back, Kumar allegedly sent a threat message to Mumbai traffic police with Firoz’s name on it, warning that 34 live bombs were planted across the city and 14 terrorists from Pakistan had infiltrated the country. The message, sent from a WhatsApp number that had Firoz’s photo, claimed the attacks could impact 1 crore residents. Kumar had recently purchased the SIM.During Kumar’s arrest from his home, police recovered seven mobile phones, three SIM cards, an external SIM slot device, six memory cards and four SIM holders, which he had used to mask his identity. Preliminary interrogation revealed that Kumar had no link to any terrorist group. The crime branch also arrested a 28-year-old man who allegedly provided Kumar his Aadhaar card to buy the SIM that was used to send the threat. Kumar lived with his retired parents, while his wife and three children have been residing separately following a domestic dispute. Neighbours described him as a recluse.
