December 1, 2009 2:45:31 am
One person was arrested by the Delhi Police late on Sunday night,after he was identified as having made a hoax bomb call regarding the Hyderabad-bound IndiGo flight 6E 307. The flight,which was scheduled to depart from the IGI Airport at 8.55 pm on Sunday,was delayed by more than four hours,to finally take off at 1.45 am on Monday.
The accused,identified as 20-year-old Mubarak Ali,had made the call to the airlines call centre to delay the flight for his relative Rizwan Malik,who was sure to miss it.
Police said that Ali had made the call at the airlines call centre after Malik,who had come from Meerut,called him up to say he was returning home as he was too late for the flight. Rizwan Malik reached the airport around 9 pm. The IndiGo flight,with 164 passengers,was scheduled at 8.55 pm. The airlines call centre received the threat call at the time the aircraft was on the taxiway. As standard operating procedure,the aircraft was sent to the isolation bay to undergo the standard sanitation process, a police official said.
CISF spokesperson Rohit Katiyar said the flight was cleared for boarding after a go-ahead from the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee after midnight.
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Police said that Ali was arrested from Bhagirath Vihar area,Gokulpuri,East Delhi in this connection,and booked under Sections 182 (giving false information to a public servant),505 (1) (b) (circulation of false statement or rumour) and 342 (wrongfully confining any person) of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused was produced in court this morning and sent to judicial custody, Joint Commissioner of Police (Operations) Satyendra Garg said.
After investigating all sides,the police arrested Ali,while Malik was cleared of charges of mischief. Ali paid for the ticket and did not want to face monetary loss owing to its cancellation,said an official.
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