An Indigo aircraft. (Image for representation)
Credit: PTI Photo
At least 50 flights operated by Indian airlines received bomb threats on Sunday even as Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government is also taking the support of international agencies to to prevent it.
With this, flights operated by Indian carriers have risen to over 350 in the past 14 days. On Saturday, at least 13 flights received threats but were declared hoax messages.
On Sunday, Akasa Air said 15 of its flights received threats. Officials said 18 flights of IndiGo and 17 flights of Vistara received threats.
After formally inaugurating two flights between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada, Naidu said besides taking support from international agencies, law enforcement wings and the Intelligence Bureau to prevent these fake threats, the union government is also mulling to amend two Civil Aviation Laws.
"We are also taking the support of international agencies, law enforcement agencies, the Intelligence Bureau to prevent these. We are planning to bring changes to two civil aviation laws. Those who resort to these kinds of activities will be punished severely and imposed a penalty. We are also taking steps to ban such persons from flying. We will announce them in the coming days," he told reporters in Visakhapatnam
Naidu also said an investigation into these fake threats is going on seriously and also the cooperation of social media platform 'X' is being sought.
Against the backdrop of a spate of hoax bomb threats to airlines, the Ministry of Information and Technology has asked social media platforms to report such threats to law enforcement agencies besides observing due diligence obligations and promptly remove or disable access to misinformation within the strict timelines prescribed under IT rules.
(With inputs from PTI)