Choreographer makes hoax call about bomb after missing flight to Mumbai, arrested

A choreographer with a dance reality show was arrested for making a hoax bomb threat call after missing his Jaipur-Mumbai Indigo flight on Tuesday morning.

The accused, Mohit Kumar Tank, made the call to Indigo’s call centre in Gurgaon claiming that a bomb has been planted on Indigo flight 6E 218, CISF commandant at Jaipur International Airport Y P Singh said.

Sources told Local Press Co that the choreographer, after missing the flight, likely made the call in a bid to get it to return to Jaipur. However, the plane was already en route its destination by the time the information reached the airport.

The airline later called Mohit and assured him that he would get a ticket for the next flight to Mumbai. But when he reached Jaipur airport, he was questioned by CISF.

The 24-year-old confessed to having made the call during interrogation. He also alleged that the flight’s departure time was 5 am but it took off at 4.52 am.

He was later handed over to Sanganer police. ACP East Ashok Chauhan said the accused has been detained, booked and further investigation into the incident was underway.

Incidentally, by the time Mohit made the hoax bomb call, the flight was about to land in Mumbai. Upon landing, security agencies took about three hours to clear the aircraft for further schedule operations.

IndiGo also issued a statement confirming the incident.

“The IndiGo call centre received a call at around 5:30 am from an unidentified person mentioning a bomb threat to 6E 218 operating a Jaipur-Mumbai flight. We immediately reported the matter to Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) and followed all laid down security protocols,” it said.

“The authorities concerned carried out the investigation and declared the call as ‘specific bomb threat’. Following the clearance by the authorities, operations will be resumed as normal,” the statement said.