Hoax bomb scare resulting in emergency flight landing in Raipur leads to arrest of an 'intelligent officer'
Raipur/IBNS: A recent bomb scare aboard a Nagpur-Kolkata flight that forced it to make an emergency landing in Chhattisgarh's capital city Raipur has triggered a row over the actions of both the informant and the authorities.
Even as the flight's 193 occupants comprising 187 passengers and six crew members were evacuated safely, the aftermath has left one flyer, who claims to be an intelligence officer, in legal limbo.
The incident occurred on Nov 14 when an emergency landing was made by the flight at Raipur Airport after a bomb threat alert.
Security agencies, including the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and bomb disposal units, rushed to the flight and carried out a meticulous search of the aircraft and passengers' luggage. No explosives were, however, found.
According to preliminary information, the passenger in question told aircraft crew members about the presence of a bomb when the IndiGo flight was in mid-air.
The Air Traffic Control was informed and the flight was diverted to Raipur.
The passenger who raised the alert, Animesh Mandal, was arrested shortly after as his actions were deemed a hoax, and he was charged under Section 351(4) of the BNS Act and Section 3(1)(g) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Civil Aviation Security Act, 1982.
A local court sent him to judicial custody.
However, in a surprising twist, Mandal has claimed to have worked for the Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer and that he was acting in good faith by reporting the bomb threat.
According to his lawyer, Faisal Rizvi, Mandal received a message about a possible bomb on the flight and immediately alerted the crew. The crew then informed the captain, prompting the emergency landing. When no bomb was found, the police arrested Mandal.
"Animesh Mandal was travelling to Kolkata after being transferred from Mumbai to Nagpur earlier this year. He shared the input as part of his duty, but instead of being recognized for his responsibility, he was arrested," Rizvi stated.
Mandal remains in custody nearly a month later, entangled in procedural delays. The 1982 Act mandates trial in a special court, which Chhattisgarh doesn't have.
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