In a bizarre case of obsession and revenge, Rene Joshilda, a 31-year-old senior consultant and robotics engineer from Chennai, was arrested for sending a series of hoax bomb threats to frame a man she was in love with. The Ahmedabad cybercrime unit made the arrest after tracing the emails to Joshilda, who worked at a multinational company.
Driven by unrequited love for her colleague, Divij Prabhakar, Joshilda resorted to extreme measures when he married another woman in February 2025. Unable to cope with the rejection, she allegedly hatched a plan to frame Prabhakar by sending fake bomb threats using email accounts created in his name.
Between February and June 2025, Joshilda sent at least 21 threat emails to high-profile locations across a dozen states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu. Targets included the Narendra Modi Stadium, schools, hospitals, and medical colleges. The emails were strategically timed before religious occasions or high-profile visits to maximize impact and panic. Some of the emails referenced real events, such as the Air India crash on June 12, to enhance their credibility. One email sent to a medical college even claimed responsibility for the plane crash. "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," the email read.
To conceal her identity, Joshilda used virtual private networks (VPNs), virtual mobile numbers, and the dark web. She also created fake email addresses, some in Prabhakar's name, to mislead investigators. Despite her efforts to remain anonymous, a small technical slip led the police to her. Investigators tracked a single digital mistake: Joshilda had once logged into both her real and fake email IDs from the same device, exposing her IP address and revealing her location.
Prior to sending the bomb threats, Joshilda's obsession with Prabhakar manifested in other ways. She allegedly threatened other women in the office if they interacted with him and created a fake marriage certificate bearing her and Prabhakar's names, which she circulated using a fake ID.
The case came to light earlier in June 2025 when a school in Gujarat received one of the threatening emails, prompting an FIR at the Sarkhej Police Station. The Ahmedabad Police's swift action in apprehending Joshilda averted a potential threat before the Jagannath Rath Yatra, a major religious event scheduled for June 27. Authorities recovered documentary evidence during the arrest. Joint Commissioner of Police, Sharad Singhal, hailed the arrest as a significant achievement, given Joshilda's expertise in concealing her digital footprint. The case has been described as a scary example of a dangerous cyber conspiracy fueled by one-sided love.
