Flyer makes hoax bomb call to delay flight, arrested

CHENNAI: A man was arrested in the Hyderabad airport on Monday for making a hoax bomb threat to the Chennai flight he was about to board. The passenger, a Hyderabad resident named Pathiraya, made the call as he couldn’t reach the airport on time.

The Indigo flight to Chennai from Hyderabad was scheduled to depart at 10.15 am with 118 passengers. The airport control room received a phone call from an unknown person warning of a bomb in the Hyderabad-Chennai flight and disconnected the call. Soon, the bomb squad and the police were alerted and confirmed that it was a hoax call after checking. The police identified the caller was in Hyderabad near the airport and arrested him.

Pathariya, who works in Chennai, had come to his native place for the weekend. Since he couldn’t reach the airport on time, he decided to give a hoax bomb threat to stop the flight from taking off.

Later, the flight departed to Chennai at 11.30 am with 117 passengers.