Fake bomb threat for more time with girlfriends at IGI Airport

The Delhi Police has arrested a 24-year-old man for making a false bomb call to SpiceJet's call center at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The accused has been identified as Abhinav Prakash, a resident of Dwarka.

New Delhi: A 24-year-old was arrested for making a hoax bomb call in a Delhi-Pune SpiceJet plane to get his friends to spend more time with their girlfriends on Thursday. The flight was evacuated and searched at the IGI airport. The accused has been identified as Abhinav Prakash, a resident of Dwarka. Prakash was working as a Trainee Ticketing Agent for British Airways at DLF Qutub Plaza Gurugram for the last seven months.

"Prakash made a fake bomb call before the SpiceJet flight bound for Pune could takeoff so the flight gets canceled and his friends could spend more time with their girlfriends," police officials said. IGI Deputy Commissioner of Police Ravi Kumar Singh said, "A SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Pune had to stop operations on Thursday after the authorities received a call claiming that the aircraft has a bomb on it. The flight was scheduled to depart from Delhi at 9.30 pm but was immediately taken to the isolation bay and all the passengers and their luggage were frisked by the CISF."

Singh further said, "All the 182 passengers and crew members were asked to de-board the flight, and the aircraft was also thoroughly checked. But no suspicious items were found on the plane. The police team obtained the phone number from which the call was made and traced it to Abhinav Prakash, a resident of Dwarka. Prakash was arrested in connection with the case shortly after conducting a raid at his address."

"Prakash revealed that his friends Rakesh and Kunal Sehrawat recently went to Manali where they befriended two local women. The two girls were leaving for Pune on the SpiceJet flight but Prakash's friends wanted to spend some more time with them and asked Prakash to devise a plan to delay their flight. The three friends then came up with the plan to make a fake bomb call at the call center of SpiceJet airlines, hoping that the flight gets canceled, " Singh added.

DCP also said, "Prakash called SpiceJet from his mobile phone and passed on the message. Prakash also called the women seated inside the flight who even celebrated when they learned the flight had been delayed or possibly canceled. When Prakash's friends found out that he has been arrested, they fled from their homes and are currently absconding from the police. Police are now trying to trace the two men."