Bomb rumor in the flight turned out to be by an IB officer; Plane had an emergency landing in Raipur

According to information received from news agency PTI, Mandal has been arrested by Raipur Police under Section 351 (4) (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) of the Indian Justice Code and the provisions of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Civil Aviation Security Act, 1982.

Meanwhile, Mandal's lawyer Faizal Rizvi claims that his client is a DSP rank officer in the 'IB', posted in Nagpur and he is innocent. He claims that after Mandal boarded the plane, he received information about the bomb from his sources, which he informed the crew.

In this case, the police said that Mandal was questioned by local police officials and a joint team of IB. After this, on the basis of information given by him, he was arrested. Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh said that the police informed the IB immediately after taking him into custody.

He had said Mandal's act had created panic and threatened the lives of passengers and crew members because of which he was arrested in accordance with law.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security reported receipt of a total of 809 fake bomb threats by airlines since 2020, according to Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in a written reply in the Parliament on December 09. He said the civil aviation security regulator, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, has put in place strong protocols to deal with such threats. He also said that a detailed contingency plan by the name Bomb Threat Contingency Plan (BTCP) is in place to deal with such threats.