Kochi to London-bound passenger threatened that there is a bomb in the flight, police arrested the accused

Air India flight to London received a bomb threat on Tuesday. Following information, the plane was checked and no explosives were found, an official said.

The authorities have arrested the suspect who made the threatening call," a Cochin International Airport spokesperson said.

He informed in a statement here that the security personnel thoroughly checked the plane, and they did not find any explosives in the plane. After the investigation, the flight continued as planned.

He had said that Air India's call center in Mumbai received a call regarding a bomb threat to its flight number AI 149 from Kochi to London Gatwick in the wee hours on Tuesday.

The alert was immediately passed on to Air India and Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at 01:22 AM.

Immediately, following the laid-down procedure, a meeting of BTAC was held at CIAL. The threat was assessed and announced. Subsequently, an elaborate security check was carried out by the ASG-CISF, airline security personnel, and the in-line baggage screening system.

Based on the recommendatory case views of Cochin Airport BTAC, the aircraft was withdrawn to a different aircraft parking area, and stringent security measures were taken. The aircraft was checked correctly and then cleared for takeoff.

Check-in for AI 149 was at 10:30 am. The flight departed as scheduled at 11:50 am. The officials tried to trace the caller from whom this threatening call was made to the Mumbai call center. It has been found that the caller was Suhaib, 29, of Kondotty in Malappuram district, booked on the London-bound AI 149 flight. Suhaib, along with his wife and daughter, was intercepted by the ASG during check-in at the international departure terminal of Cochin Airport. They will be handed over to the police for further interrogation and legal action, he said.