Engineer sends 21 bomb threats to frame man she loved, arrested
Ahmedabad:(PTI) A probe into e-mails threatening blasts at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and different places in 12 states has unravelled a tale of unrequited love and vengeance allegedly unleashed by a woman executive of an MNC in Chennai to defame a man, leading to her arrest.
After the man who she dreamt would be her husband, married another woman, the accused, identified as Rene Joshilda, decided to avenge the 'rejection' and used deception to wreak havoc in his life.
According to police, she used fake email IDs, virtual private networks (VPNs), and the dark web to hide her identity and location.
She was arrested by the Ahmedabad cyber crime from her residence in Chennai on Saturday following an extended technical surveillance, which involved picking the digital trail, an official said on Monday.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sharad Singhal on Monday said Joshilda created different email IDs, some of which were in the name of Divij Prabhakar, who she wanted to marry.
An engineer trained in Robotics, Joshilda has been working as a senior consultant at a multinational firm in Chennai since 2022.
"She has done her engineering from Chennai and a course in Robotics. Currently, she is a senior consultant at Deloitte. She loved Divij Prabhakar and wanted to marry him but it remained one-sided," Singhal told reporters.
Her dreams crashed when Prabhakar married another girl in February, filling her with revulsion and revenge.
"In a bid to frame him, she created different email IDs, some of which were in the name of Prabhakar," the police officer added.
Blinded by love, Joshilda used her technical knowledge to spread panic, blissfully unaware of the impact of her action on innocent people who became unintentional targets due to hoax emails.
The police officer said Joshilda sent emails from anonymous accounts threatening to blow up the Narendra Modi Stadium, BJ Medical College, and at least two schools in Ahmedabad.
"She allegedly sent emails to various locations in 11 other states also (besides Gujarat) timing them ahead of some religious processions or visits by VIPs," he said.
Police from various states coordinated with the cyber crime police of Ahmedabad.
"The accused used virtual numbers to create fake email IDs and used the dark web," Singhal added.
Explaining the virtual cat-and-mouse game, the police officer said Joshilda played her moves smartly and covered her virtual trail.
However, a small mistake on her part led investigators to her.
"We were tracking her for a long time. She was very smart and didn't reveal her virtual trail, but due to a small mistake of hers, we tracked her and caught her from her house in Chennai," Singhal said.
He said police recovered significant digital and paper evidence against Joshilda.
"We can say that we have busted a big module," the police officer exclaimed.
The investigation stemmed from an FIR registered at Sarkhej police station in Ahmedabad after a threat mail was received by a school on June 3, 2025.
In the mail, the sender stated she was "going to blast the bomb in your school to bring police attention about the rapist who raped the girl in Lemon Tree Hotel in Hyderabad in 2023 (sic)".
The accused sent 13 threat emails to Narendra Modi Stadium, four to Geneva Liberal School, three to Divya Jyoti School and one to BJ Medical College, police said.
Apart from this, emails threatening bomb blasts were also sent to target locations in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Bihar, Telangana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Haryana, police said.
"Bomb successfully planted in Narendra Modi Stadium. Save the stadium if you can," reads one such mail.
Another mail sent to BJ Medical College after the Air India crash stated: "I think now you know power. Like we sent you mail yesterday we crashed the Air India plane with our former CM. We know the police would have thought that the plane crash was a hoax and ignored it. Well done to our pilot. Now you know we are not playing. Now you know".
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
