A man arrested for allegedly sharing a bogus bomb alert on an IndiGo flight from Nagpur to Kolkata last month has turned out to be an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer. Police, however, justified his arrest claiming he provided false information that forced the flight with 187 passengers onboard to make an emergency landing.
Animesh Mandal (44) is a deputy superintendent-rank IB official posted in Nagpur and he was innocent, his lawyer Faizal Rizvi told reporters here two days ago. On November 14, Mandal allegedly told the crew of the IndiGo flight after it took off that there was a bomb on the plane.
The flight was diverted to Raipur, but after a thorough search upon landing, the information was found to be baseless. Mandal was arrested by Raipur Police under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 351 (4) (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) and provisions of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982. -- PTI