Mind your tweet: Youth held over ‘bombing B’luru airport’ post

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Airport Police, who were investigating an unidentified Twitter post that threatened to bomb the Kempegowda International Airport, arrested a 20-year-old engineering student from Kudlu Gate in the city. The student was identified as Vaibhav Ganesh. A tweet allegedly posted by the student on December 10 read, “I will bomb the blr airport j so they can rebuild one closer to the city (sic)”.

However soon after several reports, the tweet had been deleted from his account. A non-cognizable report (NCR) was registered at the Kempegowda Airport Police following a complaint from one of the airport terminal managers regarding the tweet.

Later, the police filed an FIR under relevant sections of the IPC based on an order from Devanahalli’s Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class. The officials had reportedly written to Twitter, seeking details about the user.

Later, the Bengaluru Northeast CEN police and Devanahalli police began their investigation and nabbed Ganesh from Kudlu Gate near Hosur Road. During the interrogation, it was revealed that the accused had posted the tweet due to his frustration for travelling a long way from KIA airport to his home.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Northeast Division, Anoop A Shetty asked the people to refrain from sharing such threats. “A student has been booked for making a hoax bomb threat call to the city Airport. A bomb threat is not a joke,” he said.