MANGALORE: Akshath, the younger brother of Aditya Rao who allegedly planted a bomb at Mangaluru airport, said his family had disowned him (Aditya) a few years ago after he failed to “mend his ways”.
Akshath, who works with a nationalised bank in Mangaluru, said his family involving himself and his father cannot be held responsible for the wrongdoing of his brother.
“My father had done everything to correct him, but did not show any signs of reform. So we totally disowned him. We are not in touch with him for the past two years in any way,” he said.
The family hails from Manipal. After the death of their mother a year ago, Akshath and his father Krishnamurthy, a retired bank employee, moved to Mangaluru.
According to Akshath, he was not in close contact with Aditya after they had joined different hostels during their high school years.
They used to meet only for family gatherings. Aditya has done his BE and MBA.
Akshath said even when their mother died a year ago, his brother who was then lodged in a Chikkaballapur jail for allegedly making a threat call to Bengaluru airport did not turn up to perform the last rites. He said the family did not even try to bail him out from jail.
Made hoax calls to airport twice in 2018
Bengaluru: Aditya Rao has a history of triggering panic among security agencies. Rao had been earlier arrested for making hoax bomb calls to airports and also for stealing laptops.
Sources said that Rao, who was denied a security officer’s job at the Bengaluru airport, had allegedly made hoax calls to the airport on two occasions in 2018.
In the first case, he had claimed that he had planted explosives at the airport. In the second, he had claimed that explosives were planted in a plane.
The same year, he had also made similar calls to the City railway station.
The police had traced the unknown caller and had arrested him. Rao had told the police that he had made the calls as the airport had refused to give him a job.
Police records also reveal that he was arrested for stealing laptops in a paying guest accommodation, where he was staying.
“It is surprising that the man tried to make it for real by planting a bomb. He might have wanted to plant a bomb earlier. But, this time he must have mustered enough courage to do it,” an officer said.