Sibling rivalry: Man delays Dubai flight with bomb threat

CHENNAI: Taking sibling rivalry to new heights, a Chennai man made a hoax bomb threat to the city police control room on Saturday claiming a couple is carrying explosives on a Dubai-bound Indigo flight from Chennai, in which her sister and her husband were travelling.

The flight, supposed to leave Chennai at 7.35 am was delayed by over six hours because of the hoax call. As many as 174 passengers were to travel on the flight.

Police said after the call to the control room came around 6.15 am, airport police were alerted and within minutes personnel from the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) secured the scene.

About 80 passengers who had boarded the aircraft by then were deplaned and the plane was put to a thorough check as well as the passengers before police declared the call a hoax.

Subsequently, police teams traced the call to a number in the Washermanpet area. The caller was identified as Ranjith (43) alias Mari Selvam. During the inquiry, Ranjith told investigators that he was upset with his sister and brother-in-law and as they allegedly refused to lend money for his business and to take revenge on them, he made the call.

Ranjith was arrested. Further investigations are on to find the veracity of his versions. Meanwhile, the woman’s family decided not to pursue the travel on the delayed flight, which left at 1.40 pm, airport sources said.