Mumbai, June 02: The twenty-sevenyear-old Tushar Sawant , who had sent a terror email to the CBI warning them about terror strikes across the city , has not been booked for cyber terrorism . The reason being that cops fell that he was frustrated and not mentally stable at the time of sending the mail .
In 2009 , the Powai police had arrested a 34-year-old man who had sent a terror mailtoblowup a Hiranandani residential complex . Even though it was a case of a gay love triangle , the suspect was booked for cyber terrorism .
Sawant , on the other hand , claimed that he was a member of a terror group andthatthey were going to carry out blasts various places in the country . In spite of this, the police haven’t booked him for cyber terrorism .
” Sawant is a software developer . He used to work for L&T for a while but was sacked sometime ago . Sawant had sent a mail to the CBI on May 29 stating that he was a part of a terror group and that the group was planning to carry out terror strikes . Major cities like Mumbai , Delhi etc would be targeted , the mail read ,” a police official said .
After receiving the mail , there was a high alert across all the police stations in the country . When the police learnt that it was a prank they trackeddown theIP addressto Sawant . He was arrested on May 31 .
” When we interrogated Sawant , he told us that he got the CBI’s email address from the internet . We are verifying whether he has any association with any anti-socialbodies ,” said an official .
When asked as to why the cyber terrorism charges were not applied to Sawant , the official refused to comment .
Sawant has been booked for hacking under the Information Technology Act.
Experts believe that those who send such mails are unaware of the repercussions of such actions . “Most of those who send terror /hoax mails don’t realizethatitis a serious offence . The new amendment for such an offence comes under ‘cyber terrorism’ , and the maximum punishment is life imprisonment ,” said a cyber expert .
–Agencies–