LUCKNOW: Email IDs created by Ankit Shankhwar, 24, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (UP ATS) on October 28 for running a network involved in creating and supplying fake email accounts, were used to send bomb-hoax threats to several prominent establishments in Mumbai on November 12, the agency has claimed.According to UP ATS officials, Shankhwar had created the email accounts and sold them to a Bangladeshi national identified as Amin.These accounts were subsequently used to send threatening emails to multiple high-profile locations in Mumbai. The ATS has claimed that Shankhwar received $50,000 (approximately Rs 47.12 lakh) from sources in countries such as Turkey and Egypt in connection with the supply of these email accounts.The targets named in the threatening emails included the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters, the Mumbai Mayor’s office, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s bungalow, ‘Jalsa’, in Juhu.Other locations mentioned in the emails included Mahalaxmi Stadium and several branches of Punjab National Bank (PNB), including those at Zaveri Bazar, Marine Lines, Fort, Goregaon East, Sakinaka, Nariman Point and Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). Branches of the Central Bank of India and Canara Bank were also among the targets.The threats triggered security concerns, prompting local police and security agencies to conduct checks at the identified establishments and intensify security arrangements.The latest disclosure has brought the November 12 Mumbai bomb-threat episode into the wider investigation against Shankhwar, who was arrested following an intelligence-led probe into the creation and supply of fake email IDs allegedly used to send threatening communications to establishments across the country.The UP ATS is also examining Shankhwar’s alleged involvement in recent bomb-threat emails concerning singer Diljit Dosanjh’s concert in Madhya Pradesh and a court complex in Gwalior. These threats had prompted security checks and heightened vigilance at the respective locations.According to the agency, its investigation began after intelligence inputs indicated that a suspicious email ID, simenbriones9265@gmail.com, was being used to send threatening emails to schools in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Delhi and Gurugram.The messages threatened bomb blasts at schools in Noida and other cities, a proposed Delhi-NCR show by Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh, and the residence of a prominent Bollywood actor. The threats were issued in the name of the Khalistan National Army and Babbar Khalsa.Technical analysis of the email account revealed that it had been accessed from Kanpur Nagar, leading investigators to Shankhwar, the ATS said.“During questioning, the accused disclosed that he had been creating fake email IDs since 2021 and selling them to people operating from foreign countries. He reportedly used Wi-Fi connections and proxy networks to create accounts under fictitious identities and received payments in cryptocurrency,” the ATS said.The ATS said investigators also recovered another email ID, smithjohnson6889@gmail.com, from his devices. This account was used to send a bomb threat to the Mumbai Mayor’s Office on October 23.
