A British Airways trainee ticketing agent was apprehended on Friday for allegedly placing a fake bomb call to the SpiceJet airlines contact centre at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Thursday, according to IGI Airport DCP Ravi Kumar Singh, news agency ANI reported.
Accused Abhinav Prakash did this at the request of his pals, who requested him to devise a strategy to delay the departure of the Delhi-Pune aircraft since two females they met on a road trip to Manali were on board, according to the DCP.
"Accused disclosed that his friends Rakesh & Kunal went on a road trip to Manali & became friends with 2 girls. Both girls were departing to Pune via the SpiceJet flight. His friends told him to find out a plan to somehow delay their departure from Delhi," DCP stated.
"In pursuance of the instigation, all three formulated a malicious plan of making a hoax bomb call at the call center of Spicejet Airlines, with an ulterior motive of getting the flight cancelled. Kunal and Rakesh are presently absconding," he added.
On Thursday evening, a SpiceJet aircraft from Delhi to Pune was delayed before takeoff at Indira Gandhi International Airport when the control room got a report about the presence of a bomb on the flight.
The flight was scheduled to depart at 6.30 p.m., however it was delayed due to security checks that began before the boarding procedure began. The contact looked to be a scam, according to officials, who discovered nothing untoward until late Thursday night.
Last month, IGI airport received a bomb threat, and security officials conducted a drill at all three terminals after being notified of a social media post warning that the user intends to "bomb and exterminate" the airport. After security officials searched through all three terminals, the threat was determined a fake.
(With Inputs From ANI)