Bahrain-bound man arrested for hoax bomb threat at Indian airport

Indian police arrested a native of the south Indian state of Kerala for threatening the security officials at the Cochin International Airport of carrying a bomb in his baggage, triggering a security scare early Wednesday morning.

According to the Nedumbassery police, the passenger, identified as Abdul Gafoor, of Angadikadavu, Palakkad, was bound to board a flight to Bahrain along with other passengers.

While inspecting their baggage, the person, under the influence of alcohol, told the officials that there was a bomb in his baggage to explode the flight after entering into an altercation with the security staff.

According to officials, the accused told so after he was apparently irritated by the delay in baggage screening.

Though officials then confirmed that the baggage had no such suspicious material, a formal security alert was sounded at the airport, with check-in officials immediately alerting the CISF personnel and other agencies. 

The incident took place around 4.20 am on Wednesday and the threat apparently triggered panic at the airport in the morning hours. However, after the customary screening of baggage of all passengers, the officials formally announced that it was a hoax threat and the accused was then handed over to the police for further action. The police released him on bail after recording his arrest, said police.

Caption : The Cochin International Airport (Photo : APAO)