On Tuesday, 15th October, more than 10 domestic and international flights were disrupted due to hoax bomb threats coinciding with the anniversary of Talwinder Singh Parmar, the prime suspect in the Kanishka bombing. The false threats began on 14th October and continued into the next day. In response, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has scheduled a high-level meeting on 16th October to address the situation.
According to WION News, unnamed ministry sources indicated that Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu convened a meeting with the Bureau of Civil Aviation, CISF, and other senior officials to discuss the threats. CISF sources confirmed receiving 10 bomb threats via social media within a 24-hour period.
Talwinder Singh Parmar's death anniversary marked by 10 hoax bomb threats disrupting Indian aviation industry (Image: Inhouse photographer Lekhak Anurag/Reddit)
Statement from Official
A senior police officer said, “We have identified and suspended several accounts that were posting threats on social media regarding bombs in airplanes. It has been reported that some threats originated from London and other countries.”
List of flights impacted by bomb threats
Most of the threats came from an unverified account on the social media platform X
Delhi-Chicago Air India Flight AI 127: The flight was rerouted to Iqaluit airport in Canada due to a hoax threat. Air India reported that the flight departed from Delhi at 3 AM and landed at Iqaluit as a safety precaution.
Dammam-Lucknow IndiGo Flight 6E 98: In response to a hoax threat, this flight made an emergency landing in Jaipur. An IndiGo spokesperson stated, “We are aware of a situation involving flight 6E 98 from Dammam to Lucknow. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is our top priority, and we are coordinating with the relevant authorities while adhering to all necessary guidelines.”
Jaipur-Ayodhya Air India Express Flight IX 765: This flight was forced to make an emergency landing in Ayodhya around 2 PM due to a hoax threat.
Mumbai to New York Air India Flight AI 119: The flight made an emergency landing in New Delhi on Monday following a hoax threat.
Other flights affected include:
Jaipur-Bengaluru Air India Express
Akasa Air Flight QP 1373 from Bagdogra to Bengaluru
Darbhanga-Mumbai SpiceJet Flight
Siliguri-Bengaluru Akasa Air Flight
Alliance Air Flight 9I 650 from Amritsar to Dehradun and Delhi
Air India Express Flight IX 684 from Madurai to Singapore
Statement from official
An airport officer was quoted by the media as saying, “In the last 24 hours, we have received several bomb threats in various sectors. We are responding to all the calls and have also informed the concerned police officers regarding the threats in order to identify the individuals behind them.”
A senior officer in airport security was also quoted by the media, stating that every threat is treated seriously and cannot be ignored as it concerns the safety of passengers. He said, “After receiving a threat, we inform airlines and the relevant security officer at the airport to follow the necessary procedures.”
Link between hoax calls and Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar
Most of the hoax calls occurred on October 15th, which marks the death anniversary of Khalistani terrorist Talwinder Singh Parmar, the mastermind behind the Kanishka bombing. Parmar was born on February 26, 1944, to a Sikh family in Panchhat, Kapurthala district, Punjab. He migrated to Canada in May 1970 and became a naturalized citizen. Alongside Sukhdev Singh Babbar, Talwinder Singh Parmar co-founded the Khalistani terrorist organization Babbar Khalsa International in 1978.
The murder of Lala Jagat Narain
Talwinder Singh Parmar took responsibility for the assassination of Lala Jagat Narain, the founder of Hind Samachar and a former MLA and MP from Punjab, who was murdered on September 9, 1981. Jagat Narain was widely recognized for his vocal opposition to Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the Khalistani movement.
On the day he was killed, Lala Jagat Narain was driving in his grey Fiat from Patiala to Jallandhar. An unmarked Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle followed him without being noticed by either the driver, Som Nath, or Narain, who was seated in the back. Approximately four kilometers outside Ludhiana, the motorcycle pulled alongside the car, and the pillion riders opened fire. The driver slammed on the brakes and tried to steer away, but a bus obstructed their path. The attackers dismounted; one wielded a .45 caliber revolver while the other had a .32 caliber weapon. They both shot at Narain and the driver from close range. While Som Nath was wounded, he survived the attack.
Unfortunately, Lala Jagat Narain was not as fortunate. He was shot three times by the assailants, collapsing immediately in his seat and dying shortly thereafter. His murder was one of the first high-profile killings that incited outrage among Hindus throughout Punjab.
The assailants faced their own misfortune; their motorcycle broke down after the attack. One of the attackers, Nachhatar Singh, a self-identified Naxalite, was apprehended by bystanders, while the other two, Dalbir Singh and Swaran Singh, were charged as accomplices. Dalbir Singh had previously been involved in the murder of Baba Gurbachan Singh, and Swaran Singh was related to Bhindranwale. Notably, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale himself was named as a co-conspirator in the case.
In the aftermath of the assassination, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was implicated in the murder. He offered to surrender, but only after giving a speech at a Gurdwara in Amritsar on September 20, 1981. Soon after his arrest, two motorcycle-riding members of Babbar Khalsa unleashed a barrage of gunfire in a crowded market in Jalandhar, resulting in four deaths and twelve injuries.
Germany made an arrest, but Canada denied the extradition request for Talwinder Singh Parmar
In 1983, Parmar was arrested and put on trial in Germany for the murder of two Punjab police officers in 1981. Nevertheless, he was acquitted by the German authorities. Shortly after his release, he returned to Canada. India made a formal extradition request, but Canada denied it. At that time, Pierre Trudeau, the father of current Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was serving as Prime Minister.
Canadian journalist Terry Milewski discussed this incident in his book Blood For Blood. He said, “Canada can’t be compared to Pakistan as a springboard for Khalistani militants in the past forty years, but it has offered them the great advantage of a congenial legal and political environment. The meek Canadian response to the Khalistani challenge was a frequent target of Indian politicians as far back as 1982 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi complained about it to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.”
“Not much came of it. Quite the reverse, in fact. Pierre Trudeau’s government refused the 1982 Indian request to extradite Talwinder Parmar to India for murder on the quaint grounds that India was insufficiently deferential to the Queen. That is not a joke. Canadian diplomats had to tell their Indian counterparts that the extradition protocols between Commonwealth countries would not apply because India only recognized Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth and not as Head of State. Case closed!” he added.
Kanishka bombing
On June 23, 1985, the deadliest aviation-related terrorist attack in history took place. This tragedy would remain the most lethal of its kind until the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The bombing of Air India Flight 182, known as Kanishka, was orchestrated by Khalistani terrorists and resulted in the deaths of 329 individuals—every person on board. The aircraft was destroyed in midair off the coast of Ireland, with 268 of the casualties being Canadian citizens.
Pierre Trudeau has faced significant criticism regarding the Kanishka bombing, as it was only after his government intervened to protect Inderjit Singh Parmar that he began planning the attack. In 1984, Parmar warned his fellow Khalistani supporters that “Indian planes will fall from the sky.” That same year, Ajaib Singh Bagri, a close associate of Parmar, vowed to kill 50,000 Hindus, declaring at the founding convention of the World Sikh Organization, “Until we kill 50,000 Hindus, we will not rest!” This was reported by Milewski, who extensively covered the Khalistani movement in Canada and beyond.
Despite his involvement in the Kanishka bombing, which predominantly affected Canadians, he is regarded as a “celebrated personality” among pro-Khalistani Sikhs in Canada.
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