NEW DELHI: Late to arrive at the airport, the attempt by a man to delay the flight created panic at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here on Sunday and ultimately landed him in police net.
A 25-year-old IT professional, Abhishek Gupta, was arrested by the Delhi police for making a hoax phone call to the airline office leading to the grounding of a GoAir flight bound for Bangalore.
The police spokesperson said that Abhishek Gupta, an employee of Infosys Technologies, Bangalore, and a native of Lucknow, was scheduled to travel by GoAir G8 201 flight to Bangalore leaving Delhi at 8 45 am. He was travelling from Lucknow to Delhi by Gorakhnath Express which was scheduled to reach Delhi by 6 am. Since the train did not reach Delhi on time, he made a threat call to delay the flight.
“He called the airline’s call centre and sought rescheduling of his ticket.
When the request was turned down, he called up the airline office and said that a bomb has been planted on the flight, with the intention of delaying it,” the police spokesperson said.
Following the threat call, the flight which had 164 people onboard was grounded and the 158 passengers and six crew members were safely disembarked.
The bomb disposal squad and the CISF personnel swung into action, searching the aircraft parked in the bay of the airport domestic terminal.
Nothing suspicious was found and the plane was cleared for journey.
In the meantime, Gupta, who reached the airport, attempted to check in. But the airline crew detained him. After interrogation by the officials, Abhishek Gupta, who was found responsible for the incident, was arrested by the Delhi Police. The police have filed a case against him under Sections 505 (1b), 182 and 341 of the Indian Penal Code for causing panic, wrongful restraint and giving false information.