A hoax call allegedly made by a young software engineer getting late for his flight created panic at the airport here today, delaying the take-off of a Bangalore-bound Go Air plane with 164 people on board.
Abhishek Gupta (25), a software professional with Infosys, was arrested for allegedly making the call claiming that a bomb has been planted in the flight and there was suspicious activity around the aircraft, sources said.
"He was coming from Lucknow in a train and it got delayed. He called the Go Air's Commercial Manager in Mumbai prior to the departure of the flight. Upon his arrival at the airport, he was arrested," a senior police official said.
Soon after the airline got the call, Go Air spokesperson said, they informed Bureau of civil aviation security the passengers and luggage were immediately offloaded.
"The aircraft was thoroughly checked and no suspicious articles were found," the police official said. The arrest came following the airline providing the voice sample of the caller.
"It was confirmed that the call was made by a passenger who was late for his flight," the official said. The flight with 158 passengers and six crew members on board was scheduled to take-of from Delhi airport at 8:45 am when the call was received. The flight took off for Bangalore after a delay of over two hours.
A case has been registered against Gupta under sections 182 (giving false information to a public servant), 505 (circulation of false statement or rumour) and 342 (wrongfully confining any person).
