BENGALURU: A 23-year-old YouTuber has been arrested and booked by Bengaluru airport police for breaching airport security under the pretext of travelling from Bengaluru to Chennai. The YouTuber uploaded a video on April 12 on his YouTube channel, mocking the security inside Kempegowda International Airport. He will face stringent legal action as entering a sensitive area like an airport is not acceptable, said sources.
Bengaluru-based Vikas Gowda has 1.3 lakh subscribers on his channel (@vikasgowda1) and undertakes feats of daredevilry to gain views for his videos. He has put up 60 videos and the views for each of them range between 2.5 lakh to 3.5.
This specific video was shot by him inside Terminal 2 on April 7 and uploaded a few days later. It was immediately taken down after he was nabbed.
Following a complaint filed by Central Industrial Security Force Inspector Murali Lal Meena, an FIR has been booked against him under IPC sections 448 (Trespassing) and Sec 505 (Statements causing public mischief).
DCP North East, Laxmi Prasad told TNIE, “Gowda has been arrested and his phone is seized.”
According to a CISF cop, "Gowda has entered the airport premises with the specific purpose of shooting videos on April 7. He had booked the cheapest flight ticket from Bengaluru to Chennai to give the false impression that he was a genuine flyer."
"After completing the security checks around 12.06 pm, he did not approach the boarding gate. He had some hidden device on his person through which he began shooting visuals in restricted areas too by illegally entering them. He is also heard bragging in Kannada that he would roam around the airport for a full day and prove that the airport security can be breached.”
Gowda exited the airport by 6.30 pm.
The cop added that the action was completely unacceptable.
"There is no scope for mischief or fun inside a highly sensitive area like the airport. Hence, we will be taking strong legal action. Gowda has also proved to be a liar and has falsely claimed he was travelling. He has illegally entered spaces inside unauthorisedly using a ticket to create a wrong impression that the security inside an airport is not tight."
His video claims that he would stay inside the premises for 24 hours as proof finally leave within 8 hours, the cop added.
Further investigations are on.