Mumbai: Hoax bomb call lands husband in jail

The man had called from a mobile phone and his location was traced to Bangalore. File pic/@AkasaAir

The airport police arrested a Bangalore resident who made a hoax call to Akasa Air claiming there was a bomb on a flight. It was later revealed that the accused had panicked and called because his wife had missed the flight.

The matter had come to light on February 24, when an Akasa Air representative approached the airport police station to register an FIR against an unknown person. As per the FIR, the airline had received a call on February 24 where the caller said "There is a flight at 6.40 pm, Mumbai to Bangalore. There is a bomb on that flight."

The plane was isolated and teams of the police and dog squad reached the flight. After a thorough search, nothing suspicious was found and the flight took off from Mumbai on the night of February 25. An FIR was then registered against the caller.

The police found that the man had called from a mobile phone and they traced his location to Bangalore. The airport police team under the guidance of senior PI Madhukar Sanap, reached Bangalore and apprehended the caller, who was identified as Vikas Bakale, 45.

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Further investigation revealed that Bakale had panicked as his wife had missed the flight and made the hoax call, unaware of the repercussions.

"A relative of the man's wife had died, and hence she had to return quickly to Bangalore. However, she could not reach the airport on time. So, Bakale decided to call the airline's customer care," said Sanap.

According to the police, Bakale is an IT engineer and has no criminal background. He has been booked by the airport police station under Sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 505 (with an intent to cause, or which is likely to cause fear or alarm to the public), and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) of the Indian Penal Code.

6.40 pm
Flight departure time