Had called police, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar airports; one city flight diverted to Nagpur
Had called police, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar airports; one city flight diverted to Nagpur
The Pune police has arrested a mentally ill man near the Daund area on Saturday for allegedly making bomb hoax calls to the police control room and the Mumbai airport. He also made a hoax call to the Bhubaneshwar airport, following which a Mumbai-bound GoAir flight from Bhubaneshwar made an emergency landing in Nagpur.
The person has been identified as Sanjeev Mishra (35), an animation professional, who hails from Bhubaneshwar. The police said the man was undergoing medication for psychological problems. On Friday, Mishra made a bomb threat call to the police control room and later called the Mumbai airport office in the wee hours of Saturday.
Earlier on January 20, he had arrived in the city from a GoAir flight to the city from Bhubaneshwar to visit a friend here.
During the journey, he had had a heated argument with a woman on board. She took him to the domestic airport police station where a non-cognisable complaint against him was registered.
Later on January 22, at about 5 pm Mishra called at police helpline number (100) stating that a bomb had been concealed in a suitcase kept in a white Bolero car, which was roaming on the domestic airport premises. Following the call, the domestic airport police started searching for the car but found none. Later, they detained Mishra.
Officials had called Mishra’s friend after detaining him, who produced a few medical documents from Kolkata doctors to the police officials, stating that Mishra is undergoing medical treatment for mental illness. After verifying the documents, the officials released Mishra.
Again in the wee hours of Saturday, at about 3.25 am, the Mumbai International Airport Authority Limited’s help desk received a call, informing it about a bomb placed under a blue colour Meru taxi that would explode at the airport. The woman officer at the help desk informed the security agencies at the airport.
However, investigations revealed it was a hoax call. In the third incident, the Bhubaneshwar airport received a bomb threat call about a Mumbai-bound aircraft. “GoAir flight G8 243 took off from Bhubaneshwar for Mumbai at 8.20 am and after receiving the bomb threat call, was diverted to Nagpur and landed there at 9.29 am,” said a GoAir representative.
According to sources from airport security agencies, during this call too officials had noticed the caller was again Mishra who had made bomb threat calls to the Mumbai airport twice in the last 12 hours.
A senior official from the Central Industrial Security Force told The Asian Age on condition of anonymity, “All these calls were made from a number belonging to Mishra.”
