Noida, Sept. 6 -- In a major breakthrough, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch arrested a 50-year-old man from Noida within 24 hours of receiving a bomb threat on the official WhatsApp number of the Mumbai Traffic Police. The accused, identified as Ashwin Kumar Supra, a self-styled astrologer originally from Patna, Bihar, was residing in Noida's Civitech Stadia Society in Sector 79 for the past five years.
The incident unfolded around 2 PM on Thursday when the Mumbai Police received a threatening WhatsApp message claiming that 34 vehicles carrying human bombs and 400 kg of RDX had been planted across the city. The sender, identifying himself as a member of Pakistan-based terror outfit 'Lashkar-e-Jihadi', further claimed that 14 terrorists had already entered Mumbai and that the attack would impact nearly one crore people. Abusive language was also used against the police in the message. Following the threat, the city was placed on high alert, especially ahead of Anant Chaturdashi and Ganesh Visarjan celebrations. Over 21,000 police personnel were deployed across sensitive locations, aided by AI surveillance and drones.
The Mumbai Crime Branch traced the source of the message to Noida using technical surveillance and arrested Ashwin Supra late Thursday night. Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the accused had sent the message using a fake identity with the intention of framing his former friend, Firoz. In 2023, Firoz had filed a case against Ashwin at Phulwari Sharif police station in Bihar, which had led to his arrest in a fraud matter. Seeking revenge, Ashwin created a fake terror plot using Firoz's name.
During the arrest, police recovered seven mobile phones, three SIM cards, memory cards, and other digital evidence from Ashwin's possession. He is a postgraduate and currently separated from his wife, with one daughter living with him. The accused is being brought to Mumbai for further interrogation, and police are investigating whether any other individuals were involved in the fake terror threat, a senior police officer said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.