KOCHI: In a bizarre incident, the Kochi airport received a bomb threat via email on Sunday with the anonymous sender demanding 10 bitcoins as ransom by midnight. Airport authorities, who stepped up security, said the threat was a hoax. A probe has been launched.
The email, sent from a secure, end-to-end encrypted Proton email service, threatened to execute a suicide bomb attack near the airport’s entrance if the ransom was not paid by midnight on April 9. The Nedumbassery police filed a case under Section 66F of the IT Act for cyber terrorism and Section 384 of the IPC for extortion based on the complaint of Kochi airport terminal manager Deepu A S.
Airport’s functioning not affected: Official
The investigation was handed over to the District Crime Branch unit of the Ernakulam Rural Police on Monday. The police suspect the e-mail was sent using the internet facility at the airport. Since Proton Mail is an encrypted facility and does not share e-mail details due to privacy policies, the police are searching for people who accessed the internet facility at the airport to identify the sender.
“We are looking for people who accessed the internet facility based on the suspicion that the e-mail was sent from a place near the airport. Even if it is a hoax, we are trying to nab the sender,” a police official said.
The spokesperson of the airport confirmed that a hoax e-mail was received but the airport’s operation remained unaffected. “There is a protocol to be followed if the airport receives such a threat.
A meeting with the airport’s bomb threat assessment committee was convened and a complaint lodged with the police. The probe is on,” said the spokesperson. Two days ago, the official website of Kochi airport was hacked by a hacker group ‘Anonymous Sudan’. But officials said the site experienced unprecedented traffic for three to four hours. It returned to normal by 10pm, they said.