Held for hoax call to airline, man to get bail today

New Delhi “I won’t be able to reach the airport on time. Can I get my ticket refunded? Or can you put me on an alternate flight to Kolkata?”
This was Vijay Khandelwal’s first attempt to catch his flight as he realised he won’t be able to reach the Indira Gandhi International Airport on time for his Delhi-Kolkata Indigo flight (6E203), scheduled to take off at 3.30 pm on August 12.
Khandelwal made a call to the Indigo Airlines call centre in Gurgaon. On getting a negative response, he decided to make another attempt — this time by saying that the aircraft had a bomb on it.
After a thorough check of the aircraft — that lasted for 90 minutes — by security agencies, the Delhi Police arrested the 35-year-old Chandni Chowk businessman at 3 am on August 13. Having spent a day in jail, Khandelwal was produced before a Delhi court the next day and his case was listed for bail before a duty magistrate on Saturday, a senior police officer said.
Khandelwal will be tried under sections 505 1 (B) (statements conducing to public mischief with intent to cause alarm to the public), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 182 (false information) of the Indian Penal Code, and his offence might get him three years in jail.
He was travelling in a taxi when he made the call saying there was a bomb on flight 6E 203. “He took a taxi from Chandni Chowk and got delayed because of the Independence Day related traffic restrictions. As soon as the taxi driver realised what his passenger was talking about, he asked Khandelwal to get off. At that point, Khandelwal realised he had committed a big mistake,” a senior police officer said.
18/08/09 Geeta Gupta/Express India

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Categories: Airports Aug 2009, Indigo Airlines Aug 2009, Safety Aug 2009