A man who allegedly claimed a bomb was on a Kolkata-bound IndiGo flight from Nagpur in November has been revealed to be an Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer. The flight was diverted to Raipur following the bomb threat, but after a thorough inspection, no suspicious items were found.
The incident occurred on November 14, when Animesh Mandal, a deputy superintendent-rank IB officer posted in Nagpur, informed the flight crew that there was a bomb onboard. The flight was subsequently diverted to Raipur, where security personnel conducted a thorough search of the aircraft. No explosives or dangerous items were discovered.
Mandal’s Claim and Arrest
Mandal’s lawyer, Fiazal Rizvi, explained that his client received a bomb threat via text from a source shortly after boarding the flight. However, a joint investigation by the IB and state police revealed the information to be false, leading to Mandal’s arrest. Mandal is facing charges under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982, which mandates a designated court for such cases. As no such court exists in Chhattisgarh, Rizvi has requested the case be transferred to the High Court.
Rizvi argued that Mandal, despite informing authorities about his role as an IB officer, is innocent. He also questioned the arrest, claiming Mandal’s position should have been taken into account before action was taken.
Raipur police chief Santosh Kumar Singh confirmed that the state police notified the IB about the bomb threat but withheld details from the media due to the sensitive nature of the case. He explained that the false information caused panic, particularly since Mandal presented himself as an IB officer. After the plane landed, a joint team from the IB and police interrogated Mandal for five hours, confirming the bomb threat was a hoax. Singh assured that the authorities had followed the law and registered a case against Mandal.