An Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer, Animesh Mandal, was arrested for allegedly issuing a false bomb warning on an IndiGo flight traveling from Nagpur to Kolkata. Mandal, a deputy superintendent-rank IB official based in Nagpur, reportedly informed the flight crew of an explosive device on board after takeoff on November 14. The aircraft was rerouted to Raipur, where a thorough inspection revealed the bomb threat to be a hoax.
The incident led to an emergency landing, endangering the safety of 187 passengers on board. Mandal was charged under Section 351(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982. According to Mandal’s legal representative, Faizal Rizvi, Mandal had received intelligence about the bomb after boarding the flight but questioned why his IB affiliation was not disclosed earlier.
Raipur’s senior superintendent of police, Santosh Singh, confirmed that the IB was notified of Mandal’s detention after a joint investigation by local police and IB officials determined that the information provided was false. Rizvi stated that the Civil Aviation Act cases are typically tried in special courts, which are not available in Chhattisgarh, and indicated plans to approach the high court for bail.
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