The Bengaluru police Thursday said they took into custody a robotics engineer based in Chennai and questioned her in connection with hoax bomb threat emails to schools.
Rene Joshilda, 30, was earlier arrested by the Gujarat cyber police after she allegedly sent an email which suggested that she was responsible for the June 12 Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad that killed 241 people on board and others. The Bengaluru police took Joshilda into custody on October 28 and handed her back to the Gujarat police after questioning.
In Bengaluru, Joshilda faces six cases of sending hoax bomb threats, including one to a public school in the Kalasipalya police limits on June 14.
She is also wanted in a case registered in Udupi for allegedly sending a hoax bomb threat to BJ Medical College.
Babasab Nemagoud, Deputy Commissioner of Police, North, said the accused had installed virtual private network (VPN) services and was using an app called Gate Code to obtain new numbers virtually. The police said they discovered that she was using six or seven WhatsApp numbers on the darknet.
The Gujarat police had earlier said Joshilda had sent the threat mails in an “attempt to frame a man she was in love with, but who had married someone else”. (https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/woman-21-hoax-bomb-threats-gujarat-based-institutions-frame-man-10083602/)
In Gujarat, Joshilda allegedly sent four threatening emails to the Geneva Liberal School on June 3, June 5, June 12, and June 15. Also, she allegedly sent three emails to Divya Jyoti School in Bopal on June 14 and June 15. The police also said she sent 13 threats to the Narendra Modi Stadium on May 7 and May 13.
On June 12, following the Air India plane crash, she allegedly sent an email to BJ Medical College, stating, “…Now you know we are not playing.” The plane had crashed into the hostel buildings of the medical college.
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After her arrest, the Gujarat Police coordinated with their counterparts in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Telangana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, where similar hoax threats were reportedly sent.