Mumbai delivery partner held for bomb threat message targeting Amarnath Yatra

The base camp at Baltal, Jammu and Kashmir, one of the starting points for the Amarnath Yatra. FILE PIC/ISTOCK

The Samta Nagar police have arrested a food delivery partner, Shubham Sarju Yadav, 26, for sending a threatening message to the official Amarnath Yatra Helpline claiming that a bomb had been planted along the route used by thousands of devotees undertaking the annual pilgrimage. According to police, the accused sent the message from his mobile phone while at his residence in Hanuman Nagar, Kandivli East, on July 12. The message, which read, "Mai Amarnath mai bam rakh ne wala hu", claimed that an explosive had been planted along the route, triggering immediate concern among security agencies.

Multiple agencies involved

The threat was treated with utmost seriousness, prompting a coordinated response from central and state security agencies, including the Mumbai Police. Acting under the supervision of DCP (Zone III) Gajanan Rajmane and Senior Inspector Jaywant Shinde of Samta Nagar police station, the detection team launched a technical investigation to identify the sender.

‘Just for kicks'

During interrogation, Yadav, who lives with his father, told the police that he had been scrolling through Instagram reels when he came across a video showing a person wearing a jacket displaying the official Amarnath Yatra Helpline number for devotees seeking assistance. Police said he noted down the helpline number "just for fun", and sent a false bomb threat without realising the consequences of his actions.

Reckless hoax

The police are continuing their investigation to determine whether there were other people involved, though preliminary findings suggest that the threat was a reckless hoax with no actual explosive device involved. The Samta Nagar police have booked Yadav under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 125, 353(1)(b), 353(3), and 351(4).

Serious offence

Investigators said the hoax message was capable of creating widespread panic among thousands of pilgrims and disrupting one of the country's most heavily secured religious pilgrimages. Authorities reiterated that fake bomb threats are treated as serious offences as they divert security resources and endanger public safety.

Cop Speak

An officer, Samta Nagar police
‘After verifying the threat, investigators traced the mobile number used to send the message. The location of the suspect was established, and he was apprehended at his residence in Hanuman Nagar on the same day.'