Passenger for bomb hoax on Mumbai-Lucknow flight

A 27-year-old passenger of Indigo Airlines was arrested by airport police for allegedly raising a hoax bomb alert on a Mumbai-Lucknow flight, 6E 5264. Mohammed Aayuf, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, created panic among passengers and crew on Friday

Mumbai: A 27-year-old passenger of Indigo Airlines was arrested by airport police for allegedly raising a hoax bomb alert on a Mumbai-Lucknow flight, 6E 5264. Mohammed Aayuf, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, created panic among passengers and crew on Friday.

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According to the police officer, at 11:45pm on Republic Day, when the flight was about to take off, flight attendant Nisha Mishra noticed several passengers crowded near seat 21 (C). When enquired, she found Mohammed Aayuf seated there, although his designated seat was 15 (A). When asked by the flight attendant to move to his assigned seat, Aayuf refused, claiming that there was a bomb beneath his seat. Alarmed, the attendant sought assistance from the cabin supervisor, Nandini Upadhyay, who confronted Aayuf with the same inquiry. Aayuf’s continued insistence caused panic among passengers.

Mishra informed the pilot of the passenger’s claim, and then the pilot and cabin crew alerted the CISF. Subsequently, all passengers and luggage were deboarded for a thorough search of the plane. Officials later confirmed that Aayuf’s claim was a hoax, as no suspicious items were discovered. The airport police registered a case under sections 506 (2) and 505 (1) (b) against Aayuf for criminal intimidation and arrested him.

“We are now investigating to find out the motive behind the bomb hoax,” said a police officer from the airport police station. The officers said that prima facie, they found out that Aayuf wanted to sit at seat number 21 (C) instead of his seat designated seat, 15 (A), due to which he claimed that a bomb was planted under seat 15 (A).