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Passenger running late for flight tried to delay plane with hoax bomb threat

He missed his second flight as well

Namita Singh
Tuesday 21 February 2023 09:28 GMT
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Related: Air India passengers threaten to break into cockpit on delayed flight

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An army personnel in India has been booked for allegedly making a hoax bomb call to the police on Monday after he missed his second flight for the day.

Ajmeer Bhadraiah, 59, was to board an Indigo flight from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad that was on its way to Chennai. He was, however, denied entry for arriving late.

Having missed his 5.15am flight, the man also failed to board the second flight he had booked for 10.15am, and got into an altercation with the airport staff.

“The said passenger argued with the Indigo employee and asked him to allow to board the flight,” said R Srinivas, station house officer (SHO) at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport police station in Hyderabad.

“The passenger threatened to stop the flight and called the police control room informing them about a bomb in flight 6E-6151, and demanded that it be stopped from taking off,” Mr Srinivas said in a press note shared with The Independent.

Upon learning about the bomb threat, the SHO contacted the caller, while simultaneously alerting the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee at the airport, reported The Times of India.

As the police pressed him for details, the man who served as a superintending engineer of Military Engineering Services, confessed to making a hoax call.

The fake bomb threat call inconvenienced many passengers, said Mr Srinivas, adding that police action has been initiated against the accused as per law. He has been charged with intimidation and violation of Aircraft Act, reported The Times of India.

“He made the call out of frustration after missing two flights as he was upset that he could not report to duty,” a police official told the outlet.

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