Caller said the impostor had been misusing his name for 15 years and would likely target an airport with arms and ammunition
Air India, which has been the target of several hoax calls in the past, received an unusual call at its Thane call centre yesterday — a male caller claimed that an impostor who had been using his name for 15 years, was now going to target a certain airport (he did not specify which).
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“I am Manish Kumar calling from Bihar. I am a BSES Rajdhani Kota officer,” the caller told the AI operator on Monday morning.
He added that the impostor would be dressed in a police or army uniform, carrying arms and ammunition, and posed a threat to the airport.
The state-owned airline company then forwarded the warning to the Shree Nagar police station.
“The caller claimed that the man has been using his name since the last 15 years, and it could be dangerous for him as well as the country. He requested to catch hold of this man and then immediately disconnected the call,” said an officer from Shree Nagar police station.
The call was traced to a toll-free number.
“It was not an Internet call, so we have begun the process to trace the number. Mumbai airport senior officials also were alerted about it,” added another officer.
Security has since been beefed up at Mumbai airport.
Similar call
A similar case was reported in November last year, when a 20-year-old youth from Madhya Pradesh was arrested in connection with a threat call made to Air India’s Thane call centre. The accused, who had threatened to hijack an AI flight, claimed that he had done it “just for fun.”