Airline Worker faked Bomb Call so Pals could Flirt with Women

An Indian airline worker was arrested for making a hoax bomb call to a SpiceJet flight.

It is reported that he made the call for his friends so they could spend more time with two women they met on holiday.

The accused was identified as 24-year-old Abhinav Prakash, a trainee ticketing agent for British Airways.

A call was made to the SpiceJet reservation office about a bomb on SpiceJet’s flight from Delhi to Pune.

At the time, boarding had not started.

Following the call, the aircraft was moved to an isolation bay and was thoroughly inspected by security officials.

The call was later declared a hoax and the flight took off.

A spokesperson said: “Nothing suspicious was found. The call was later declared as a hoax.”

Police identified the suspect as Abhinav Prakash, a resident of Delhi.

His two friends, Rakesh and Kunal Sehrawat are believed to have asked him to stop the flight as two women they met in Manali were set to fly home.

After making the hoax call, Prakash allegedly contacted the women and the trio celebrated.

In a statement, Delhi Police said:

“On being subjected to sustained custodial interrogation the accused disclosed that his childhood friends namely Rakesh and Kunal Sehrawat, who recently went on a road trip to Manali, became friends with two girls in Manali.

“Both the girls were departing today to Pune via flight No. SG-8938 of Spicejet Airlines.

“His friends told him that they wanted to spend some more time with their girlfriends and instigated the accused to find out a plan to somehow delay their departure from Delhi.

“In pursuance of the instigation, all three formulated a malicious plan of making a hoax bomb call at the call centre of Spicejet Airlines, with an ulterior motive of getting the flight cancelled.

“The accused immediately called Spicejet Airline’s customer care phone number from his mobile phone and passed on the message that ‘there is a bomb in flight No. SG-8938’.

“Thereafter when the Spicejet officials tried to reach him he stopped picking up their calls.”

“The accused person, to boost his false bravado, contacted the girls who were onboard and when they came to know that the flight has been delayed/stopped, they even celebrated the execution of their malevolent act.”

Prakash was arrested after his home was raided.

After news of Prakash’s arrest came to light, his two friends fled. Efforts are being made to locate them.

The two women are also expected to be questioned as part of the investigation.