Choreographer makes hoax call to delay plane, arrested

Running late for his flight to Mumbai, a choreographer associated with shows like 'Dance India Dance' on Tuesday tried to delay the plane with an anonymous call warning of a bomb aboard but was detected and arrested, police said.

According to police, Mohit Kumar Tank was booked on IndiGo's Mumbai flight 6E218 but getting late, he called up the airlines' Gurgaon-based call centre and told them there was a bomb on the plane.

As the flight had taken off by the time he made the call, the airlines, in a statement, said that they immediately reported the matter to Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) and followed all laid-down security protocols. The crew members were also informed and searched the plane but couldn't find anything questionable.

Eventually, the flight, which had 145 passengers, safely landed in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Central Industrial Security Force officials checked the list of passengers and found Tank's name missing from the list of those who boarded. Called to the Jaipur airport with the promise that he will be adjusted in the next flight, Tank was grilled by CISF officials and confessed to the hoax call.

Sanganer police station Sub Inspector Jaiprakash Singh told IANS that Mohit has been arrested and charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

--IANS

arc/vd/him/