Friend-turned-foe: Man held over fake terror threat to Mumbai; wanted to settle personal score

NOIDA: A Noida resident has been arrested for allegedly sending a hoax threat message to Mumbai Police, claiming that 14 terrorists had entered the city with explosives. Officials said the accused wanted to frame a man who had filed a case against him and sought revenge.The accused, identified as Ashwani Kumar (51), a native of Patna, Bihar, had been living in a housing society in Noida’s Sector 79 for the past five years. He posed as an astrologer and vastu expert, according to officials.Police said the threatening message, received by Mumbai Police on Thursday, was traced to Noida. Following this, Sector 113 police launched an operation and arrested Kumar within hours.Kumar was arrested from Sector 79 and later handed over to the Mumbai Police, additional deputy commissioner of police (Noida) Sumit Shukla said.During interrogation, investigators said Kumar confessed to sending the hoax message out of personal vendetta."He wanted to take revenge from a friend who had filed a case against him in Patna in 2023, in which he was jailed for three months. To settle scores, Kumar sent the threat message to the Mumbai Police using his (friend's) name," the officer said.Mumbai Police went on high alert Thursday after a WhatsApp message claimed that 14 terrorists had entered the city with 400 kg of RDX planted in 34 vehicles, just days before the Anant Chaturthi celebrations, which draw lakhs of devotees across the city.The threat, sent to the traffic police’s helpline, cited the name of a group called ‘Lashkar-e-Jihadi’. A case was registered at Worli police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.(With inputs from agency)