Hoax bomb threat delays flight, lands Keralite in custody

Dubai, Mar 17 (UNI) A hoax bomb threat marked in Malayalam on a luggage delayed a Calicut-bound Air Arabia flight from Sharjah by two hours, landing the passenger in police custody.

The baggage caused panic at the airport check-in area yesterday and the security officials stopped all passengers from boarding the aircraft for checking, the Khaleej Times reported.

The passenger, Sakkaria Kunjabdullah (23) was arrested by the airport police. The report quoting a source said he belonged to a Muslim fundamentalist organisation in Kerala and was out to create a scare in the Calicut airport if the prank was not noticed at Sharjah.

It started when security officials were checking the baggage of Calicut-bound passengers of Air Arabia flight G9 595.

''The officials spotted the message written in Malayalam on Kunjabdullah's baggage which mentioned that the bag contains bomb.

Some slogans were also written on the baggage,'' the daily said.

A thorough check proved that the message was hoax.

UNI XC PD RK1555