A 51-year-old astrologer from Bihar, living in Noida, was arrested for sending a Mumbai bomb threat that shook the city on Friday. The man, identified as Ashwini Kumar, had been staying in Noida for the past five years.
The Mumbai Traffic Police received a WhatsApp message warning of 34 “human bombs” planted across Mumbai. The threat also claimed that 14 Pakistani terrorists had entered India and that 400 kg of RDX would be used. The timing heightened fear, coming just before Ganesh Visarjan celebrations. Security across Mumbai was immediately tightened.
Police later traced the Mumbai bomb threat to Ashwini Kumar. He confessed that he sent the message to frame his friend Firoz. Their dispute dated back to 2023, when Ashwini spent three months in jail after Firoz filed a case against him in Patna’s Phulwari Sharif. Seeking revenge, Ashwini created the fake terror alert in his friend’s name.
Officers seized seven mobile phones, multiple SIM cards, and memory devices from him. He is now being brought to Mumbai for further investigation.
The Mumbai bomb threat turned out to be a personal vendetta disguised as a terror plot, but it briefly pushed the city into high alert.
