MANGALURU: A local court here on Wednesday convicted Adithya Rao to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him in a case related to planting explosives at Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on January 20, 2020.
Police Commissioner N Shashikumar in a statement said under Section 4 of the Explosives Substances Act 1908, he was sentenced to 5 years rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000. He will have to serve 6 months simple imprisonment if he fails to pay the fine.
Further, under Section 16 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967, he was awarded 20 years rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 10,000 fine. If he fails to pay it, he has to serve another 6 months simple imprisonment. Both punishments will run concurrently.
In a 700-page chargesheet filed before the court in June 2020, the city police had said Rao, then 36, had placed a bag near the MIA entrance, which consisted of a real bomb as per the FSP report. The IED in the tin box was made of sulphur, ammonium nitrate, potassium chlorate and charcoal.
An engineer by education, Rao had learnt to make explosives by watching online videos. However, he had not connected the wires to trigger the blast. In the chargesheet, police had concluded that his intention was not to cause a blast but only to create a scare. Rao had distanced himself from his family and was living alone, working in restaurants.