Bomb threat: A male passenger was arrested at Delhi airport on a complaint by a woman co-passenger. The incident happened on June 7. However, nothing was found on the flight.
The woman had complained to a flight crew member that she heard the man, identified as Azeem Khan of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh who was onboard a Vistara flight to Dubai, spoke of a bomb over the phone. The man was handed over to CISF and then arrested by Delhi Police. The accused was travelling to Dubai on a connecting flight from Delhi to Mumbai on Vistara flight number UK-941.
The crew members after the woman's complaint handed over the accused to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), after which the Delhi Police arrested him. The fiasco resulted in the delay of flight's take-off and an anti-sabotage sweep was carried out in the terminal area and the check-in baggage even as the overall security apparatus was put on an "alert" mode. The threat was declared "non-specific" or hoax around 6.45 pm and the flight with 163 passengers were allowed to depart for Mumbai, they said.
The CISF is the designated aviation security force that undertakes checking of air passengers and their cabin baggage as part of providing a counter-terrorist threat to 66 civil airports in the country.
The passenger who was accused of the 'bomb chat' and the complainant were handed over to the Delhi Police, and the male passenger was later booked under sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 268 (public nuisance) of the Indian Penal Code, the sources said. Azeem Khan was given notice and allowed to go as nothing suspicious was found on him. "If needed, he will have to join the investigation in future," Delhi Police said.
