Bengaluru-based couple arrested for making fake bomb call to airport to catch Air Asia flight to Kochi

A couple based in Bengaluru were arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport on Thursday for allegedly plotting and organising a fake bomb call to the airport, which led to an almost seven-hour delay in the Kochi-bound flight's departure. They were, however, released after having signed an undertaking to return to the city within two days.

The airport's terminal manager received an anonymous call around 8:40 pm saying that a bomb had been planted inside the Kochi-bound flight scheduled to depart at 8:45 pm on Wednesday. The authorities immediately sounded an alert following which the police called for the bomb detection squad. The aircraft, carrying around 160 passengers, was declared safe around 1: 30 am on Thursday after being thoroughly searched for explosives and finally took off around 3 am.

The couple, who was supposed to get engaged in Kerala — their home state, plotted the entire incident due to fear that they might not be able to reach on time for their flight to Kochi on Wednesday evening.

Neha Gopinathan and Arjun alias Anjan, both of whom reside in BTM Layout and work as language teachers at a private tutorial centre, were later released by the Bengaluru International Airport police following their pleas that they be permitted to go to Kochi for their engagement. The couple also signed an undertaking that they would return to the city within two days.

"They were stuck in traffic near Jayanagar around 8 pm and knowing they could not make it in time to catch the flight, they planned the hoax call plot. They called a friend in Kochi, asking him to call the terminal manager, saying a bomb had been planted on the Kochi flight," a senior officer told the Times of India adding that the friend is still absconding. 

They were supposed to take the Air Asia I5 1129 flight to Kochi at 8.45 pm on Wednesday, while their engagement was scheduled to be held on Thursday in Alappuzha. They also told the police the name of the man who made the hoax call.

The police tracked the hoax call to Kochi while the plane was being searched for explosives. A police source told TOI that the terminal manager received the call from an area that was home to a passenger supposed to travel in the flight. This particular passenger had also called the airport a few minutes before the flight was scheduled for departure to request for the flight to be delayed since they were stuck in traffic and would not be able to make it to the airport on time.

It did not take time for the police to zero in on Neha and Arjun. One of them had called the airport to request for the departure of the flight to be delayed.

The Alappuzha Police, who were also alerted, told TOI that the fake bomb call was made around 8:30 pm from a public telephone booth in Thazhakkara, Mavelikkara, in Kerala's Alappuzha district

"The person manning the booth said a youngster made the call. We initiated a probe around 11.30 pm, and we suspect that a relative of the Bengaluru youth made the call," Mavelikkara Circle Inspector P Sreekumar told the daily.