In a breakthrough in a months-long investigation, Gujarat Police recently arrested a 30-year-old Chennai-based robotics engineer who allegedly sent a series of hoax bomb threats across 11 Indian states and falsely claimed responsibility for the deadly Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad.

The accused, Rene Joshilda, a senior consultant at a multinational firm, is now at the centre of a complex cybercrime case that spans multiple jurisdictions and has raised concerns about psychological manipulation thanks to a failed love angle to the case.

Personal Vendetta Behind Coordinated Threat Campaign

According to The Times of India, police revealed that Joshilda’s elaborate campaign was driven by a personal grudge. Her target was a former colleague, Divij Prabhakar, who did not return her affections and married someone else earlier this year.

Investigators allege that Joshilda used her technical expertise to create numerous fake email IDs using variations of his name, with the intent to frame him in the bomb threat cases.

The emails, laced with disturbing threats, targeted schools, hospitals, stadiums, and public institutions in states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Kerala. In several messages, she threatened to blow up locations such as the Narendra Modi Stadium and civil hospitals in Ahmedabad, with at least 21 separate threat emails sent to sites in Ahmedabad alone.