Mumbai Police arrested a 51-year-old astrologer from Noida for allegedly sending bomb threat messages that triggered panic across the city just a day before Ganesh Visarjan celebrations.
The accused, identified as Ashwini Kumar from Bihar&rsquo;s Patliputra, had been living in Noida for the past five years. Investigators said he sent WhatsApp messages to the Mumbai Traffic Police claiming that &ldquo;34 human bombs&rdquo; had been planted across the city and that 14 Pakistani terrorists had entered India with 400 kg of RDX.
The threats, made under the name of a group calling itself &ldquo;Lashkar-e-Jihadi,&rdquo; forced Mumbai Police to raise security levels across the city. Drone surveillance, additional check-posts, and anti-sabotage squads were deployed to secure immersion routes.
Police later traced the messages to Ashwini and found that he had allegedly tried to frame his former associate, Firoz, with whom he had a bitter fallout. According to officials, Ashwini was jailed for three months in 2023 in a case filed by Firoz in Patna&rsquo;s Phulwari Sharif. Seeking revenge, he sent the threatening message using Firoz&rsquo;s name.
A senior officer confirmed, &ldquo;This was not a terror plot but a personal vendetta. However, given the timing and scale of the threat, the city had to treat it as a top-level alert.&rdquo;
From Ashwini&rsquo;s possession, police seized seven mobile phones, multiple SIM cards, memory cards, and digital devices. He is being brought to Mumbai for further interrogation.

Astrologer Nabbed for Fake Mumbai Bomb Threat

Police say accused faked terror alert to settle scores with old rival

Astrologer Nabbed for Fake Mumbai Bomb Threat

Police say accused faked terror alert to settle scores with old rival

September 6, 2025 | 15:01 IST