Mumbai Terror Threat: Astrologer Ashwini Kumar Arrested, Here’s What We Know
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Mumbai Police have tracked down and arrested a 51-year-old man from Noida who allegedly spread panic with a WhatsApp message claiming Mumbai would be blown up with bombs.
The accused, Ashwini Kumar, is an astrologer and vastu consultant originally from Patliputra in Patna, Bihar. For the past five years, he had been living with his retired father and homemaker mother in Noida’s Sector 79.
Investigators revealed that Kumar, a postgraduate, has been estranged from his wife and often entangled in financial disputes. His past record includes a brief jail term in 2023 after a case filed by his acquaintance Firoz in Patna. This time, police say, he tried to frame the same friend by sending the threat message in Firoz’s name.
The WhatsApp message was alarming, it claimed that 34 vehicles carrying “human bombs” were planted across Mumbai, with 14 Pakistani terrorists involved and 400 kg of RDX ready to trigger destruction. Sent under the name of a group called “Lashkar-e-Jihadi”, the threat warned of wiping out Hindus and “shaking Mumbai.”
The message was received simultaneously by the city’s control room and traffic police, prompting an immediate security review. “Mumbai Police is alert, and security across the state has been enhanced. All angles of the threat are being investigated,” officials confirmed in a statement.
During Kumar’s arrest, police seized seven mobile phones, three SIM cards, multiple memory card holders, and other digital devices. A fresh case has been registered against him under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The arrest comes just days after another man was nabbed for making a hoax call about blowing up Kalwa railway station in Thane. Authorities are treating both incidents as serious reminders of how fake threats can create real panic in the city.
The accused, Ashwini Kumar, is an astrologer and vastu consultant originally from Patliputra in Patna, Bihar. For the past five years, he had been living with his retired father and homemaker mother in Noida’s Sector 79.
Investigators revealed that Kumar, a postgraduate, has been estranged from his wife and often entangled in financial disputes. His past record includes a brief jail term in 2023 after a case filed by his acquaintance Firoz in Patna. This time, police say, he tried to frame the same friend by sending the threat message in Firoz’s name.
The WhatsApp message was alarming, it claimed that 34 vehicles carrying “human bombs” were planted across Mumbai, with 14 Pakistani terrorists involved and 400 kg of RDX ready to trigger destruction. Sent under the name of a group called “Lashkar-e-Jihadi”, the threat warned of wiping out Hindus and “shaking Mumbai.”
The message was received simultaneously by the city’s control room and traffic police, prompting an immediate security review. “Mumbai Police is alert, and security across the state has been enhanced. All angles of the threat are being investigated,” officials confirmed in a statement.
During Kumar’s arrest, police seized seven mobile phones, three SIM cards, multiple memory card holders, and other digital devices. A fresh case has been registered against him under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The arrest comes just days after another man was nabbed for making a hoax call about blowing up Kalwa railway station in Thane. Authorities are treating both incidents as serious reminders of how fake threats can create real panic in the city.
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