Surat, Jul 29 (PTI) A 35-year-old labourer from Surat was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly turning his Instagram obsession into a criminal act to send a fake bomb threat to the Surat District Court and was preparing to target the Supreme Court next, according to police.
The accused, Ratan Mishra, originally from Darbhanga in Bihar, has been living in Surat for the past decade with his elder brother. He worked in diamond polishing units but had been unemployed for the past few months after his wife joined him in the city.
According to Additional Commissioner of Police Karajraj Vaghela, the district court received an email on the evening of July 13, claiming that a 5,000 kg RDX bomb had been planted inside the premises. A massive search operation followed, but the threat turned out to be a hoax.
Police said Mishra, who studied up to Class 9, taught himself how to send emails by watching YouTube tutorials. Investigators allege that after watching Instagram reels featuring bomb threat hoaxes, he decided to copy the idea.
“Inspired by bomb threat emails he saw in Instagram reels, he borrowed a mobile phone from another resident of his building, went to the terrace, and sent the threat email (to the ID of the district court). During interrogation, he confessed to using the other resident’s phone,” said Vaghela.
Police also recovered a draft email addressed to the Supreme Court from his own mobile phone. Police said the draft suggested Mishra was planning to send another bomb threat, which he allegedly admitted during interrogation.
A draft email addressed to the Supreme Court was also found on his own phone, indicating he was preparing to send a threat there as well, which he also admitted.
With no job, Mishra allegedly spent much of his time connecting to other people’s mobile hotspots to watch YouTube videos and social media reels, hoping to learn content creation. Instead, police say, he found inspiration in viral hoax bomb threat videos. PTI Cor KA NSK
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