The Bengaluru City Police have arrested a woman software engineer, Rene Joshilda, in connection with the recent hoax bomb threat emails sent to several schools in the city. She was already in police custody. The arrest marks a major breakthrough in a multi-state cybercrime investigation that has been ongoing for months.
Arrest and Connection to Multiple States
Joshilda, already in police custody in Gujarat, was apprehended by the North Division Cyber Crime Police after her alleged involvement in sending threatening emails to six to seven schools in Bengaluru came to light. Earlier investigations had connected her to similar cases in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Gujarat.
Authorities revealed that she had also sent hoax bomb threats to public places and even to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, apart from schools in several cities.
According to police officials, she was first arrested in June by Ahmedabad Police. However, during Karnataka Police’s investigation, they found evidence linking her to bomb threat cases in Bengaluru as well. She has now been brought to the city on a body warrant for further interrogation.
Threat Messages and Methods Used
In her email threats, Joshilda allegedly warned recipients that she would “blow up your schools like the Gujarat plane crash”, raising panic among school authorities and parents. The investigation, supervised by Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, uncovered that the accused used advanced digital methods to conceal her identity.
She operated through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and used an app called ‘Gate Code’ to generate virtual mobile numbers for registering multiple fake accounts. Police also found that she maintained six to seven WhatsApp accounts used to send threatening messages and emails under different identities.
Motive Behind the Threats
The investigation revealed a personal motive behind the elaborate cyber threats. Police said Joshilda’s actions stemmed from defeat in love she had reportedly fallen in love with a man who rejected her, leading her to orchestrate the hoax bomb threats as an act of revenge to falsely implicate him.
Who is Rene Joshilda?
Rene Joshilda, 30, is not ordinary accused. Police describe her as a highly educated and technologically skilled individual with a background in robotics engineering. Investigations reveal that she allegedly used her technical expertise to orchestrate a series of hoax bomb threats across multiple states, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Gujarat.
Ongoing Investigation
Several criminal cases have been registered against Joshilda across multiple states. The ongoing investigation is being conducted under the supervision of Joint Commissioner of Police (West Division) Vamshi Krishna and DCP (North Division) Nemagouda.
Officials said that a special investigation team (SIT) is currently questioning the accused to uncover the full extent of her cyber activities and determine whether others were involved in her elaborate hoax campaign.
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