Ahmedabad: In a bizarre and alarming case that reads like a cyber-thriller, Gujarat Police have cracked a nationwide syndicate of hoax bomb threats, leading to the arrest of a highly qualified robotics engineer from Chennai. The motive? A chilling tale of unrequited love and a desperate desire for revenge that saw a senior consultant at Deloitte, Renee Joshilda, unleash a digital terror campaign across multiple Indian cities.
About The Case
The Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested Joshilda on Monday, peeling back layers of a meticulously planned cyber operation. According to JCP Crime Branch Sharad Singhal, the 26-year-old engineer, originally from Tamil Nadu, harbored a fervent, one-sided love for a male colleague, Divij Prabhakar.
The obsession took a dark turn when Prabhakar married someone else in February 2025. Consumed by a desire for retribution, Joshilda allegedly leveraged her advanced cyber skills, including the dark web, to create numerous fake email IDs in Divij's name, then dispatched threatening emails to prominent institutions and public spaces.
"This was a calculated act of vengeance," stated JCP Crime Branch Sharad Singhal. "Renee thought she could remain invisible on the dark web, meticulously hiding her digital footprint. But a single, crucial mistake allowed the sharp eye of our cybercrime unit to unravel her elaborate scheme."
The Ahmedabad Police traced her digital breadcrumbs, leading them to Chennai, where she was apprehended. The investigation has unearthed a significant cybercrime module, with police recovering a trove of digital and physical evidence from her possession.
A Trail of Terror Across 11 States
This was no isolated incident. The scope of Joshilda's digital vendetta stretched far beyond Gujarat, putting police forces in 11 states on high alert as they scrambled to track the elusive cyber criminal. Police investigations have revealed that Joshilda, an electrical engineering graduate with a career in the IT sector, had been sending such threatening emails for over a year, accumulating a total of 21 confirmed instances. Authorities are now probing whether any accomplices were involved in her elaborate plan.
Among the high-profile targets was the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. On April 14, just before an IPL match, an email threatening to blow up the stadium sent shockwaves through security agencies. The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) immediately alerted Ahmedabad Police, leading to a swift and thorough search by high-ranking officers and bomb disposal squads. Preliminary investigations suggested the email originated from Germany-Romania, a detail that now points directly to Joshilda's methods of cloaking her location.
The threats continued, even targeting an Ahmedabad school during the IPL final. Geneva Liberal School on SP Ring Road received a chilling email, claiming a bomb had been planted to draw attention to a 2023 Hyderabad rape and dowry case, explicitly naming Divij in the allegations. The email accused police of inaction and explicitly stated that only the death of children would force them to investigate properly. It also leveled accusations against Divij's parents, alleging a demand for a one crore rupee dowry from their daughter-in-law.
"The audacity and technical sophistication behind these threats are truly concerning," a cybercrime official, who requested anonymity, commented. "This case highlights the evolving nature of cybercrime, where personal vendettas can escalate into widespread public panic, leveraging digital tools for real-world disruption."
