Bomb threat at Taj Mahal, turns out to be hoax

ANI photo NEW DELHI: The Tourism department of the Taj Mahal in Uttar Prdesh's Agra received a bomb threat via email on Tuesday. "The tourism department received the email. Based on that, a case is being registered at Tajganj police station .

Further investigation is being done," ACP Taj Security Syed Areeb Ahmed told news agency ANI. Later a police official said, an email threatening to blow up the Taj Mahal was received by the regional office of Uttar Pradesh Tourism which turned out to be a hoax. Bomb disposal squad, dog squad and other teams were pressed into service but nothing suspicious was found, ACP Sayed Areeb Ahmad, entrusted with the security of the Taj, the official told news agency PTI.



The incidents of hoax calls have been on the rise in recent months, with numerous flights, schools and colleges getting threats via emails or phone calls. Domestic airlines have faced nearly 1,000 hoax bomb threats this year up to November 13, according to the government. Minister of state for civil aviation, Muralidhar Mohol informed the Rajya Sabha on November 25 that a total of 1,143 hoax bomb threats were recorded between August 2022 and November 13, 2024.

This year alone, between January and November 13, there 994 threats were received. To address this menace of unabated hoax calls, the civil aviation ,ministry plans to amend the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982, and the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023. The bureau of civil aviation security (BCAS) has established stringent measures to tackle such threats and Bomb Threat Contingency Plan (BTCP) is in place to handle such threats.

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