Passenger running late for flight calls in hoax bomb threat: cops

An Indian army engineer was arrested Monday for allegedly making a bogus bomb threat in a desperate attempt to delay his flight after already missing another that morning.

Ajmeer Bhadraiah, 59, a superintending engineer of Military Engineering Service, was upset after first missing a 5:15 a.m. flight from Hyderabad to Chennai, and then being denied entry to a 10:15 a.m. IndiGo flight departing from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport because he had arrived there too late, according to police,

Airport police said Bhadraiah got into an argument with airline personnel and asked to be allowed to board the flight, reported the Times of India.

When his request was denied, “the passenger threatened to stop the flight and called the police control room informing them about a bomb in flight 6E-6151, and demanded that it be stopped from taking off,” said airport police inspector R. Srinivas.

After learning of the bomb threat, Srinivas contacted the passenger and also alerted the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee at the airport.

When questioned by cops, Bhadraiah allegedly confessed to making the hoax call.

“He made the call out of frustration after missing two flights as he was upset that he could not report to duty,” Cyberabad Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner of Police V. Bhaskar told the Times of India.

Officials said the fake bomb threat caused “inconvenience” to many passengers at the Hyderabad airport by triggering security checks that resulted in delays.

Bhadraiah was taken into custody and charged with intimidation and violation of the Aircraft Act.