“Bomb in terminal, allah ho akbar”. This is the message that a Passenger Relation Officer of Atol Mauritius received by e-mail on Saturday afternoon, October 23. The 32-year-old man was on duty at the Operation Control Center (OCC) at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport from 7:30 am, when he received the e-mail at around 2:46 pm. All the police machinery was set in motion, after this officer informed his Duty Terminal Coordinator. After a search was made no bomb was found. The Cybercrime Unit of the Central Criminal Investigation Department (CCID) was assigned to this investigation.
The airport police went into overdrive late Saturday afternoon, October 23, upon learning of the bomb threat from the CCO. Immediately the Bomb Disponal Unit of the Special Mobile Force, the police sniffer dog, as well as the Criminal Investigation Division were called in to comb the various areas of the airport. In the end, it turned out to be a bad joke.
The Cybercrime Unit was assigned to this investigation to trace the email back to its author. The investigators viewed various surveillance cameras at the airport.
