Maharashtra: Nagpur Police Arrest Writer For Sending Multiple Hoax Bomb Threats, Including PMO & Top Officials

A 35-year-old man recently arrested by the Nagpur Police for allegedly sending a series of hoax bomb threats to airports and railway stations across the country has authored a book on terrorism, which is available on Amazon, according to officials.

Jagdish Uikey, who is originally from Chandrapur, was detained in Nagpur after returning from Delhi on October 30. He was later remanded to police custody till November 5.

Uikey had a prior arrest in 2021 for similar offences.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Lohit Matani told The Free Press Journal that Uikey’s motive behind the hoax call was to gain attention. He discounted any terror angle in the case.

Many of the threats were sent from Uikey’s email, and preliminary findings indicate this was merely a stunt, he said.

Matani said police had been tracking Uikey for several days. Officials wee monitoring his movements through location tracking and even watching his interactions with relatives, he said.

The investigation is ongoing to identify the specific devices used to make the threats, as it appears Uikey had multiple devices, Matani added.

Since January, Uike had been sending emails about bombs and threats of explosions at various locations. Between October 25 and 30, he sent emails threatening explosions at 30 sites. He also sent emails to political leaders and high-ranking officials, including Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the director general of the Railway Protection Force, and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

In one of his emails, Uike demanded a meeting with Fadnavis, claiming he would share information about planned explosions. His emails alleged that six airports and 31 flights were being targeted by the terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. This led to increased security measures nationwide, with CISF officers at all airports on high alert.

Interestingly, Uikey used code in his emails, such as ‘M’ for market, ‘R’ for railway, and ‘A’ for airline. It was revealed that on October 28, Uikey visited Delhi, where he reportedly submitted some documents to the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The actions of the accused seem to have been a publicity stunt. The police are questioning Uikey, who keeps changing his story,” the DCP said.