A Pune-Delhi Akasa Air flight made an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport after a passenger claimed that he had a bomb in his bag, officials said on Saturday.
The flight, which was carrying 185 passengers, landed in Mumbai in the early hours of Saturday around 40 minutes after taking off from Pune, the airlines said. The flight finally departed for Delhi around 6am after the bomb claim turned out to be a hoax.
“At around 2.30 am today a Central Industrial Security Force officer informed the Mumbai Police Control, after which the luggage of the passenger of that flight was searched in the presence of Bomb Detection and Disposable Squad team, as well as police officers. But during the investigation the police did not find any suspicious object,” a police officer said.
The passenger, Akash Tyagi, a 26-year-old from Uttar Pradesh, was taken to hospital in Mumbai after he complained of chest pain. A relative accompanying Tyagi on the flight told the police that he had taken medicine due to chest pain, the official said. However, there were also reports that Tyagi had a mental illness.
Accused Booked Under Several Sections
Bhagwat Garande, Senior Inspector at Sahar Police Station, said: “The accused is a mental patient who is currently receiving medical treatment. We promptly arrested him. He has since been released on bail.” The police booked Tyagi under Sections 505 (pertaining to statements conducting public mischief) and 506 (2) (relating to criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
Akasa Air confirmed the incident. “Akasa Air flight QP 1148, flying from Pune to Delhi at 00:07 hrs on October 21, 2023, and carrying 185 passengers and six crew members on board, received a security alert shortly after take-off. The captain followed all required emergency procedures and landed safely at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 00:42 hrs,” the airline said.
