How Chennai techie walked into police net by claiming responsibility for AI crash

Following the arrest of 28-year-old IT professional Rene Joshilda in Chennai for reportedly issuing 21 bomb threats across 12 Indian states, Ahmedabad police revealed that her email claiming responsibility for the Air India flight AI 171 crash prompted them to intensify their investigation into the series of hoax emails, an effort that ultimately led to her capture.

The Cyber Crime unit of the Crime Branch (Gujarat police) brought her to Ahmedabad on Wednesday night. The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police earlier apprehended Joshilda with assistance from cyber units in multiple states and the KK Nagar police in Chennai following an investigation that reportedly uncovered her elaborate plan to frame former colleague Divij Prabhakar. She is accused of sending numerous hoax emails threatening bomb blasts at schools, public events, and key infrastructure across several states, including Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Created fake mail IDs

“Rene Joshilda will remain in the custody of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch’s Cyber Crime Unit for interrogation before being handed over to the Rajasthan Police,” Sharad Singhal, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ahmedabad, told The Federal. “Preliminary investigations suggest she meticulously created multiple fake email IDs, some under the name of Divij Prabhakar. It appears she wanted to marry Prabhakar, but after he married someone else, she embarked on a revenge spree.”

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“She confessed to the crimes and admitted that had she not been arrested, she planned to send more threatening emails during the upcoming Rath Yatra in Gujarat,” Singhal added. “During initial questioning in Chennai on June 23, it emerged that Joshilda had engaged in similar activities in 2021 and 2022. She had created fake social media accounts, including on WhatsApp and Instagram, using her friends’ phone numbers to impersonate and harass them after falling out with them. Her psychological evaluation will also be conducted as part of the ongoing investigation in Ahmedabad. We have also requested assistance from forensic experts at the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gandhinagar.”

It all began in Bengaluru, where Joshilda, a robotics engineering graduate working at a reputed IT firm, met her colleague Divij Prabhakar at a company event. What began as a professional acquaintance soon turned into a one-sided obsession. Despite her repeated advances, Prabhakar rejected her and eventually married someone else, an outcome that reportedly left Joshilda enraged.

AI 171 crash turning point

The investigation began with an FIR filed at the Sarkhej police station in Ahmedabad after a private school received a threatening email on June 3, 2025. The following day, the case was transferred to the Cyber Crime Unit of the Crime Branch. Upon review, the unit discovered that the email matched the pattern of several threat mails sent over the past two months, part of an ongoing investigation they had been pursuing for several months.

“It took extensive technical surveillance to trace Joshilda’s digital footprint, as she used the dark web, encrypted emails, and even a Pakistani VPN to conceal her identity while issuing bomb threats,” said a member of the Cyber Crime Unit’s investigating team. “Until June 3, her threats targeted schools, malls, public halls, and the Narendra Modi Stadium. But the turning point came a day after Air India flight AI 171 crashed into BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad when the college received an email claiming responsibility for the crash. That message escalated the case to a top priority,” he added.

“We crashed that plane and everyone is dead. Now you know we’re not joking,” read Joshilda’s chilling email sent to the general administration email ID of BJ Medical College.

How it all started?

Notably, according to Gujarat Police, the first threat email sent by Joshilda in the state was a bomb threat targeting a local private school. Using a fake email address under the name of Divij Prabhakar, [email protected], she sent a hoax threat to Geneva Liberal School in Ahmedabad.

Within a week, the school received three more emails similar to the initial threat. Soon after, other schools in Ahmedabad’s Bopal and Satellite areas were also targeted with similar emails. In May 2025, Mahatma Mandir, a public hall in Gandhinagar, received a bomb threat on a day when foreign dignitaries were attending an event organised by the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce. Joshilda later stepped up her threats by sending an email warning of a bomb attack at the Narendra Modi Stadium on the day of the IPL final match.

Gujarat police to coordinate

Notably, Joshilda will be handed over to the Rajasthan police once the Ahmedabad police complete their investigation. The Cyber Crime Unit of the Gujarat police will lead the probe while coordinating with police departments in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Telangana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana, states where similar hoax threats were reported over a span of a year, from early 2024 to June 2025.

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“Jaipur alone received over 65 hoax emails in 2025, including bomb threats targeting schools, SMS Hospital, hotels, medical colleges, and Jaipur International Airport,” said a senior Rajasthan police officer, who will lead the investigation in the state. “Joshilda’s emails also mentioned planned attacks at Tonk Road, the District and Metro Court in Bani Park, and the Mansarovar metro station. Of the 65 emails, 64 were sent between May 8 and May 13, with one more sent on May 18. Each message triggered emergency responses and widespread panic, but none of the threats were found to be credible.”