Who is Ashwin Kumar? Astrologer arrested for '34 human bombs, 400kg RDX' terror threat on Mumbai | VIDEO

Ashwin Kumar Supra (50) was arrested in Noida and handed over to the Mumbai Police for allegedly sending them a threat via WhatsApp: that he would blow up the city with 400kg of RDX distributed among 34 "human bombs" spread across the city, and that 14 Pakistani terrorists had infiltrated India.

Kumar's message, sent impersonating a terror group he called the Lashkar-e-Jihadi, was sent just a day before Ganesh Visarjan celebrations in the state, amplifying the alarm as it threatened to wipe out Hindus and "shake Mumbai".

ALSO READ | Mumbai on high alert: Police receive threat of ‘human bombs’ and RDX

The 51-year-old was found to be an astrologer and vastu (Hindu architecture system) consultant hailing from Bihar's Pataliputra, as per a Hindustan Times report. 

Kumar, who is a postgraduate, is also said to have been estranged from his wife Archana, and had been living with his parents in Noida's Sector 79 for the past 5 years.

He also has a history of financial irregularities: Kumar was jailed for three months in 2023 after his friend Firoz (who is also from Bihar) filed a case against him at the Phulwari Sharif police station in Patna.

In that regard, the police said that the Friday bomb threat on Mumbai was allegedly done to implicate Firoz in a terror case as revenge.

The message was received by both the police control room and the traffic police, leading to an immediate security review.

“Mumbai Police is alert, and security across the state has been enhanced. All angles of the threat are being investigated,” it said in a statement.

A case has been registered under sections 196(1)(a)(b), 351(2), 351(3), and 351(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The police have also seized seven mobile phones, three SIM cards, six memory card holders, an external SIM slot, two digital cards, and other electronic items in his possession for further investigation.

India