Nazrul Islam, a 29-year-old from Bangladesh, had a tumultuous journey from studying airline management in Punjab to threatening to blow up an aircraft. In 2017, while pursuing a course in Punjab, he met a girl named Sonia and ‘fell in love’ with her. However, before he could express his feelings, Nazrul had to return to Dhaka as his course ended.
During the 2020 pandemic, Nazrul met Sonia again when he found her on Instagram. They started chatting and became close friends. Eventually, he proposed marriage to Sonia. Despite initial hesitance due to their religious differences (Sonia is a Christian, and Nazrul is a Muslim), he convinced her by falsely claiming he had received a US visa for his PhD. Sonia eventually agreed, and they got married in April last year. However, Islam’s plan to move to the US never materialized.
Sonia grew suspicious when he started making excuses, claiming he was stuck in Kolkata due to farmers’ agitation. She asked her brother to go to Kolkata and check Islam’s credentials. Fearing exposure, Nazrul created a temporary email ID and sent a hoax bomb threat to Delhi airport, claiming there was a bomb on the flight Sonia’s brother was on.
On February 27, IGI airport went into a tizzy as the threat email said there was a safety issue on flight SG 8263 from Delhi to Kolkata and that somebody was carrying explosives. The sender asked that every bag and passenger be checked to prevent an explosion. After a thorough search, the threat email was found to be a hoax.
DCP Usha Rangnani formed a team to crack the case, leading them to Kolkata. The email source was traced to a Wi-Fi connection at a hotel in Park Street. Investigation revealed that the email was sent from Nazrul’s device. He had deleted his phone history and other data.
During interrogation, Nazrul revealed that he had a debt of about Rs 50 lakh and was not returning to his hometown. He had planned to siphon money from his wife. Nazrul was arrested for making a false threat and for his intentions to commit fraud.
