LUCKNOW: UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has detained an 18-year-old youth in Jalaun for threatening to attack Miami airport in the United States here on Saturday. Depressed over losing his high-value bitcoins, the youth had registered his complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US probe agency, but failed to get the desired response following which he handed out a threat to blow up the Miami airport, said the ATS sources.
While briefing the media persons over the development, UP DGP OP Singh said that the youth had bought bitcoins worth $1,000, which had tripled over a short period of time.
"However, someone on the internet duped him on the pretext of helping him to further increase the value of the cryptocurrency," said the DGP. Frustrated over failing to recover his money despite all efforts, the youth submitted a complaint to FBI using a fake name and sought its help.
But he did not get a desired response from the US probe agency. Consequently, the youth started calling up Miami Airport authorities using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and claimed that he would attack the airport with AK-47 and grenades, a suicide belt and kill everyone.
"He made calls to the airport between October 2 and 31 after which FBI got in touch with National Investigation Agency (NIA), which, in turn, roped in UP ATS to carry out the operation," said OP Singh.
He added that the accused was soon tracked down by the UP ATS sleuths and his equipment, including laptop, was seized. The DGP also said that the accused had used a fake Aadhaar card to negotiate with the FBI.
UP DGP further said that the youth neither informed his parents about the duping incident nor the police. Meanwhile, IG ATS, Aseem Arun said that the parents of the accused were unaware of his bitcoin deal. However, he was traced on the basis of IP address he was using to contact Miami airport authorities in the US.
He confessed his crime during interrogation, IG Arun said. While the legal action was initiated against the youth under Section 41 A of the CrPC which did not require arrest, said the IG ATS. He added that the accused would be chargesheeted in court. However, the incident prompted the officer to request parents to keep an eye on their children, especially, when it pertained to online transactions.