SVPI airport gets bomb threat, turns out to be a hoax

Ahmedabad: The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) Airport in the city received a fresh bomb threat email on June 29, prompting immediate activation of security protocols, according to a complaint filed with airport police on Saturday evening.

Neelmani Sharma, landside security manager with the Adani group at the airport, is the complainant in the case. According to the FIR, Sharma received the threatening email on the company's official IDs at around 10.23am. The message, sent from the ID roadkillandkyokill@atomicmail.io, stated "powerful explosive devices are hidden inside backpacks placed around the airport", and warned of potential fatalities. The senders signed off as "Roadkill" and "Kyo," claiming responsibility and instructing that the message be circulated to news outlets.

The Airport Bomb Threat Committee convened at 10.45am. By 11.15am, the committee officially declared the email as a non-specific threat after evaluation. Representatives from the Adani group, local police, CISF, IB and airport security participated in the assessment. Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) teams conducted thorough searches across the airport premises, but no suspicious items or explosive materials were found. The sender of the email remains unidentified.

This incident adds to a growing list of such threats targeting the airport. In the past two years, the facility received over 40 bomb threat complaints, including 31 in the current financial year. Most threats came via emails, calls or notes, often causing temporary shutdowns and intense security activity. On Feb 10, 2025, a note reading, "Bomb is here", was found on an Indigo flight from Jeddah. In 2024, a series of email threats were recorded in May and June, one of which claimed bombs were placed near airport washrooms.

The fresh case has surfaced just days afer the arrest of Birju Salla, who gained notoreity in 2017 after planting a hijack threat note on a flight. He was the first person to be booked under the stringent Anti-Hijacking Act, 2018. While Salla was acquitted by the high court in 2023 due to lack of evidence, he is presently under scrutiny in two separate threat note cases — one involving a bomb threat on an IndiGo flight from Ahmedabad to Jeddah in Nov 2024 and another targeting the Ahmedabad airport in Jan this year.